It's Just My Personality
by Way Worse Than Scottish
Summary: Time travel fic in which the first year Hermione Granger ends up going back to the Marauder's Era and meeting Severus Snape. This is a Snermione fic with Hermione/Remus friendship.
1. Chapter 1

A?N: okay so here's some vital information for this fanfiction: first off, this is my first snermione so it will improve each chapter as i grow more comfortable, next, this is an AU where Ron and Harry forget about Hermione when the troll attacks in first year. This will be Hermione centric, and the first bit of the chapter will definitely be mostly her musings. On with the show!

_She's a nightmare, honestly. She must've noticed she's got no friends. _Ron's words ran through her mind over and over again.

Hearing Ron call her such horrible things hurt Hermione. She didn't understand how she could be in Gryffindor; she wasn't brave... and she couldn't even make friends to be loyal to. Frankly, she just wanted to go home. She had had such high hopes when she found out she was magical; she had fantasized every day about finally fitting in somewhere and never being teased again. Most of all, she wanted a friend who'd understand her. She didn't ask for much... just a friend, only one.

Running away from those cruel boys, Hermione found solace in the girls' bathroom on the 2nd floor. Normally she'd loathe to be late for class... but this wasn't the first time she'd cried alone in a bathroom at school.

Calming down, she observed her surroundings, appreciating the artistry that was the architecture of this old Scottish castle. Apparently this bathroom was dedicated to Slytherin; the sinks had stone carvings of snakes and the ceiling was bumpy, resembling a serpent gliding through water. She looked in the mirror at her reflection, poking and prodding at her face. Her face wasn't really bad looking, it was mostly her overly large teeth and fizzy hair. She knew she would eventually grow into her teeth, and her hair could be controlled on occasion. All in all, she found her exterior not to be the worst in the world.

"It's just my personality," Hermione murmured to her reflection.

She knew she could be overbearing at times, and she always wanted to say the answers to every question. Really, she preferred being at the top of her class because it was the only accomplishment she could say she had. She wasn't the prettiest, the bravest, the most popular, the funniest... but she could be resourceful and smart. Besides, in this world she was already considered lesser than everyone else due to her parentage... she just felt the need to prove to the wizarding world she wasn't lesser in the magical or academic sense.

She sat on the floor underneath one of the sinks and took out a book, promising herself she'd be less sensitive. She should protect herself more, stop volunteering information... stop trying to make friends... just stop caring. There was no point, no one would ever actually like her. She knew that from past experiences.

She sighed as she burrowed into the new book. She had brought this muggle book from home, The Lord of the Rings. Plenty of information to keep her distracted from her life which was falling apart around her.

All of a sudden, she heard a loud thumping noise that reverberated through the floor. The door to the girls' washroom was bashed open and Hermione shrieked.

A large ungainly troll came in, wielding a club over twice her size. Her heart was bursting. Her fists were clenched. She steeled herself and burrowed closer to the wall. The troll turned it's great head in her direction and bashed open the wall, revealing a tunnel. Scrabbling quickly towards it, Hermione's cloak got caught on a plank of wood. Unhooking her cloak from it, she escaped the troll, grabbing her book bag and sliding down the tunnel.

The tunnel seemed to go on forever; it was made of smooth cold metal that was absolutely covered in dust. Still, it was better than slime or black sludge. And it was infinitely better than her fate had she stayed in the washroom with that troll.

Finally, the tunnel ended, albeit abruptly.

She fell onto a pile of pebbles and while it wasn't exactly soft, at least it wasn't glass shards. Looking back up at the tunnel, she nodded, confident the troll wouldn't be able to follow her down the tunnnel.

"It'll probably go off and wreak havoc elsewhere, maybe even killing some students," Hermione thought aloud. She was shocked that she didn't truly care. Besides, she rationalised, none of those students had ever given her the time of day, quite literally. She had learned a new charm because of it, 'tempus', which was above the first year curriculum, but she wasn't going to find out the time from any other source. She didn't doubt someone released the troll especially for her. No one liked her and even if the perpetrator was caught, no one would care if she went missing or even dead.

Picking herself off the ground, she brushed herself off. For a troll attack, she had come out ridiculously unscathed and relatively clean. She noticed she was in a chamber, probably underground judging from the cooler air. Shrugging to herself, she looked around. "It couldn't be that dangerous down here, besides, it's a school; it has to be somewhat safe," her voice echoed. "Then again, the Headmaster warned us of the forbidden forest and the third floor corridor on the right hand side, I suppose he wouldn't warn us about a secretive cavern that lies hidden underneath the school. I wonder if he even knows about this place."

She ran her fingers over an intricate design of snakes wrapped around each other forming a circle. Frowning, she bit her lip. She noticed an indent in the wall, about the size of a wand tip, but sneakily placed so it was almost completely hidden from view. Reaching for it, she hesitated and stopped herself. She had no idea what it could do, but there didn't seem to be any other choice unless she could apply a sticking charm to her hands and crawl back up the tunnel. She decided to press herself flush against the wall and take out her wand.

Hermione placed her wand delicately against the stone wall and looked around for any differences within the room. Nope. Looked the exact sa- wait. The eyes of snake glowed blue.

"_The heir of Slytherin does not appear,_

_You should by now be shaking with fear,_

_Brave and steadfast, you were told you were a lion,_

_Yet to me, you seem more like bronze and cyan._

_Bitter and clever, a dangerous combination,_

_You may enter if you seek reincarnation." _

After finishing it's ominous chant, the snake carvings writhed to reveal an opening to an even grander chamber. "I feel like I'm going to regret this," Hermione confessed quietly as she stepped inside.

Of course, the exit closed behind her. Shaking her head, Hermione smirked. "Typical. The saying, 'Never trust a snake,' could never be used more aptly than in my situation."

The entire chamber had a greenish glow emitting from the waters on either side. There was one large path, leading toward a carving of a man's face, which resembled Poseidon or perhaps Zeus... if they had snakes for hair. Statues of snakes rose up on either side as Hermione began to walk toward the giant face.

As she approached the face, it began to move. She sincerely hoped it wasn't another cryptic poem. Instead of sound coming from its mouth, a time turner appeared on the tongue.

She had researched a bit on time-turners, fascinated by the concept of travelling through time. This one seemed different, though, from the pictures she had seen in the old tombs. Instead of various circles that spun, it simply took the form of an hourglass with a small bronze button on the top. Sighing, she picked it up, figuring this chamber had a mind of its own. She was sure that if she hadn't picked it up, she would've been locked in the chamber until she did.

Pressing the button resignedly, Hermione hoped for the best. Hopefully she'd appear somewhere more open to muggleborn females who were too brainy for their own good.

A pale dark haired boy sat in a window sill, reading a text book well above his age. He frowned at the obvious insufficiencies and closed the text, frustrated, and looked out the window. It was snowing again, and the outdoors looked as bleak and cold as always.

"Well... this is... unexpected," he noted.

A bushy brunette had appeared before him in a flash of light. She had on a Hogwarts uniform and looked about his age, but he didn't recognise her, and he had made a point of learning everyone's name in his year. Not, of course, for social purposes, mind you, but in case he ever got a hold of good black mailing material.

The girl opened her eyes, looking confused. She had a sort of honey brown tint to her eyes. She bit her lip hesitantly, "Hello," she said in a small voice.

"What... are you doing here?" he asked calmly, putting his book down and climbing from the window sill in the abandoned corridor.

She frowned, worrying her lower lip even more. The boy noted that she tucked a small object into her robes. "I'm not quite sure... I-I believe I... well, what year is it?"

He raised an immaculate eyebrow. "What year do you think it is?"

"Not the year I was in a few minutes ago," she countered cleverly.

He nodded. "I suppose you should see the headmaster. Or a professor, if you prefer a specific one."

She paused. Should she visit Dumbledore? But, she could much up the future by meeting someone she already knew. Then again, she might know the boy in front of her. He could be a few years ahead of her, or he could have been one of the shop keepers she had met while shopping for school supplies.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"What's yours?" he replied.

"I bet you're a Slytherin," she sighed.

"And you're not?"

"Is there someone named Dumbledore here? A student... or teacher? He'd be in Gryffindor if he's a student." She averted the question.

"Why? Is he your head of house? Figures you'd be a bloody Gryffindor."

Hermione winced. "Gryffindors are downright insufferable, always showing off and doing stupid things."

"Interesting. As a matter of fact, we do have a professor Dumbledore. I suppose I could show you to his class room. Of course, I _could _do that... but why should I lead a complete stranger to him?" he said smoothly.

Hermione sighed. "Fine. You want to know my name? I shouldn't tell you unless I don't know you."

He frowned. "But you don't know me."

"I don't know you _yet_, but I could know a different version of you... and I don't fancy breaking some law or another of time?"

"Time doesn't have laws. Asides from the normal cause-to-effect consecutiveness of it." He said astutely. "Even if you _do _know me, nothing bad could happen unless you purposefully try and change a key aspect of events."

"Alright. But if you end up blowing up because of you forcing me to much with time, it's on your head."

The boy snorted. "I highly doubt my head will implode. But if it did, I doubt the school population would care about my untimely demise."

She smiled. She had to admit this boy had a way with words. Or at least manipulating the truth enough to get what he wanted. "My name... is Hermione Granger."

His eyes bugged out. "No-oh, MERLIN! My head!" he exclaimed, falling to the floor and clutching his head dramatically. Chuckling, he crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "See? I'm fine. My name is Severus Snape. Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Hermione." He held out his hand.

Hermione's face paled. "Oh," she took his hand and shook it weakly, thinking about all the biting remarks his older self had said to her. "Um," she blushed. "Hi."

"Well then, Hermione. Shall we go visit a certain Professor?"

She couldn't shake the image of the sallow greasy haired nightmare this boy would turn out to be. Looking over to him, it was hard to tell that they were one in the same. This young Severus Snape still had hope in his yes, a spring in his step. His hair was pulled back into a braid, and had a healthy sheen to it. His nose looked normal; it wasn't overly large and point in any way. He was pale, but not gaunt or sallow; it was more of an English pale, an it-hasn't-stopped-raining-for-a-month pale. Actually, he didn't look at all that bad. In fact, he could be considered good looking.

Shaking her head out of her impromptu reverie, Hermione took Professor S-no... _Severus' _ hand and walked with him down the corridor.

"So what class does Professor Dumbledore teach? What floor are we on? What time of the year is it? Where is everybody? Why aren't you in class?" she peppered him with questions. Wait... no, she didn't want to seem as obnoxious as she had when she had first met Ron and Harry. "Oh.. sorry. I'm nervous, I suppose," she chuckled awkwardly.

He looked over at her questioningly. "You assume I would answer your questions so easily? Hermione, I'm sure you can figure all that out on your own."

Taken aback at his almost harsh tone, Hermione smiled. There was the acerbic Potions Professor that docked points from the Gryffindors and constantly belittled everyone in class.

"Well, that's an odd response," Severus stated, referring to her smiling after he had been rude.

"Sorry for being so obnoxiously brash, Severus. I didn't mean anything by it," she responded, not actually answering his unasked question.

"Hm," was all he had to offer in terms of reply. "Well, here is Professor Dumbledore's classroom." He nodded curtly and began to leave.

"I guess I'll see you later then, Severus," Hermione said, finally letting go of his hand.

He frowned and looked down, his nostrils flaring at the fact he'd been unaware that he had been holding her hand the entire time. "Good bye, Granger," he nearly spat out, rushing away as his cloak billowed dramatically around him like a bat.

She smirked inwardly at his mercurial mood and his apparently lifelong flair for dramatic exits.

That's the end of this chapter. I have about three chapters already written out, they just need to be typed so this story should update soon. And it's a really rainy day, so I'm probably going to spend most of my time working on this.


	2. Chapter 2

Ah yes, an update.

Previously:

He frowned and looked down, his nostrils flaring at the fact he'd been unaware that he had been holding her hand the entire time. "Good bye, Granger," he nearly spat out, rushing away as his cloak billowed dramatically around him like a bat.

She smirked inwardly at his mercurial mood and his apparently lifelong flair for dramatic exits.

Turning to face the door, she gave a firm three knocks.

"Come in," a familiar kindly voice called.

A bright blue pair of eyes greeted hers as she walked into the classroom. Dumbledore looked very much the same; the same eclectic sense of style, half moon glasses, twinkly eyes and a crooked nose. Slightly less wrinkles, but there was no doubt that this was Dumbledore, the first, the best and the only.

"Uh, hi there."

Dumbledore frowned at the new face coming into his class. "Please, sit down, would you like some tea or perhaps a sugar quill?"

"Oh, um, no thank you," Hermione admitted, taking a seat.

"I don't recognise you, though you obviously recognise me. I'm Professor Dumbledore, I teach transfiguration here at Hogwarts. And what might your name be?"

"Um, see, that's the problem, Professor." She took out the time-turner. "I'm not sure if I should tell you who I am."

"Hm," he replied, leaning back in his seat, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Well, it seems you're in quite the conundrum. Were you sent here or was this by accident?"

Hermione ducked her head in embarrassment. "not really either, Professor. I was it a bit of a sticky situation, and escaped it. Then I kind of got trapped and I came across this time-turner after a cryptic poem was delivered to me. The time-turner really seemed like the only way out... Could you tell me what year it is, here?"

He smiled kindly. "It's 1971, my dear child."

Her eyes widened perceptibly. "Oh..."

"Might I be able to inspect the time-turner?" he asked, reaching out his hand.

"Um... okay. But it seems to be one way," she looked down at it. "The sand inside disappeared."

"Curious," he mumbled, inspecting it keenly now. "I'm afraid, my dear girl, that I won't be able to send you back... the Ministry is rather strict about time-turners, and I'm assuming you're from the future and we can't have a time-turner go missing for a couple decades..."

"Oh," she said, looking downcast. That meant she wouldn't be able to see her mum and dad... or her cat, or the rest of her family. She'd never be able to go home. Her dad would never give her hot cocoa again, and her mum wouldn't sing horrible 80s music while cleaning up pots and pans early in the morning.

"Now we must figure out a name for you to go by while you're here. Well... no, how well known were you at Hogwarts during your time there?"

"Only a few months... I didn't really have friends either. A few teachers might remember me, but other than that..."

"Hm," he hummed, stroking his beard once more. "I suppose you should go by your true name, then, but perhaps a different House? What house were you in previously? You strike me as a Ravenclaw, you seem like a bright girl."

She blushed under his praise. "Actually, no. I was a Gryffindor. I didn't fit in too well, though... and, um... well, a different magical artefact informed me that I was a Ravenclaw."

"Curiouser and curiouser, Well, I guess the only solution would be for you to decide. There are quite lovely people in either house, and I'm sure they'd welcome you with open arms. What... no, you said you were a first year, yes?"

"Yes, Might I talk to the sorting hat? I think it would help me decide where I'd best fit in..." Hermione suggested.

"Marvelous idea! Would you like me to accompany you to the Headmaster's office?"

"Oh! Er... right," Hermione stammered, momentarily forgetting that Dumbledore was not yet her Headmaster. "1971, you said? So the Headmaster must be... Armando Dippet?"

"Brilliant!" Dumbledore clapped. "You're well-read, aren't you? Yes, Headmaster Dipped is who we'll be seeing, though between you and me, he seems to be getting quite feeble... why," he laughed, "I remember when he had a full head of hair!" he chuckled good naturedly and led her out of the classroom. "By the way, how did you find this classroom?"

"Someone guided me here."

"Hm... right, do you know where the Headmaster's office is?"

"No."

"It's well hidden. No double you've passed it on your way to class a great number of times. Voila!" he gestured grandly to the stone gargoyle.

"Password?" it asked in a gravelly voice.

"Aluminium gerbil," Dumbledore said in a hushed tone, winking at Hermione.

The gargoyle moved out of the way, revealing a twirling staircase that led up.

"This office is truly the most magical part of the school. It's stupendous, really."

Hermione smiled then frowned. "Shouldn't we knock or ask if the Headmaster is available?"

"Oh," he sighed, a knowing look twinkling in his eye, "the Headmaster is sure to have been expecting us for quite some time now. The walls do like to gossip," he confessed, leading them onto the stairs.

Hermione gasped as the stairwell began to move in and of its own accord. 'Get a grip, Hermione,' she thought, 'it's magic, at least try not to seem like a muggleborn.' She had decided that it would be generally safer for her to pretend to be a half-blood...

Schooling her features into neutrality, she ran her finger along a crack on the wall. Finally, they reached the entrance way. Two large wooden doors greeted her, with a gothic iron design on them. Dumbledore oh so casually swept the doors open as if he owned the place, which he would, in twenty or so years time.

"Albus!" an elderly man greeted him. He was hunched over and well-worn, looking quite mistreated by time. His head was completely bald and though he had a bit of a tremor in his right wrist, he seemed completely capable. He leaned against an ornate white wooden staff, that had runes inscribed all over it. While weak he seemed, his eyes told a different story. Much like Snape's, they pierced right through you, looking into your very soul. Though, of course, Snape often looked at you murderously with ill intent, this kindly old man's eyes smiled, promising safety and protection.

"Welcome, come in! Make yourself at home! Albus, you haven't found yet another orphan to keep, have you? Do you remember the last time you did?" the Headmaster reminded him good-naturedly.

"Alas, Armando, I doubt this fine young student could become anything but extraordinarily good. She won't be the next Dark ruler of our world, I guarantee!" Dumbledore chuckled. "And she has quite the tale to tell, if I do say so myself," he winked.

"Hm, no doubt, Albus," Headmaster Dippet replied skeptically. "Enough jibber jabber between old friends though! What's your name, child?"

"I'm Hermione Granger," she said proudly. "I appeared here just a little while ago; it seems I was in quite a sticky situation and a one-use time-turner was my only way out. I'm a student at Hogwarts... or, at least, I will be. I don't want to ask for charity, but I'd be ever so grateful if I could continue my education here, now. It seems I can't return to my own time."

The Headmaster's eyes sparkled. "Oh, Albus! What a delight! Hermione, it'd be an honour to have a student with such a bright future in our school! But I can see that that isn't your main cause for coming to see me specifically. A little bird told me you came to ask for the Sorting Hat?"

Albus chuckled deeply. "Would this little bird happen to be a certain Nigellus Black?"

"The one and only."

"I told you the walls liked to gossip," Dumbledore said aside to Hermione.

"Well, Hermione, I hate to cut our discussion short, but I'm afraid I have some other important business to attend to. I'm secure in the knowledge that Albus will show you around, though I highly doubt it has changed since you were last here. Or..." he sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I can't get these verb tenses straight in my head. Well," he stood up and reached over to grab the Sorting Hat, "Here you go. I'm looking forward to seeing you again after you've settled in! We'll talk about your summer plans in June, but you'll be staying here over the winter holidays, for sure," he finished hurriedly.

"Um... what about school supplies? I have my text books.. but they're a bit out of date, if you catch my meaning." Hermione said in a small voice.

"Oh, don't worry about that. Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it." With that, Hermione and Dumbledore left the office quickly, sensing that Armando was rather occupied with other things.

Back in Dumbledore's classroom, Hermione put on the Sorting Hat while he went through the school records.

'Hm, it seems you were already picked for Gryffindor,' it grumbled. 'But you fit so well in Ravenclaw that I'm shocked I picked otherwise... not much could have changed in a few months, could it?'

Hermione thought back to the months she had dealt with that had been full of harsh words.

'Well, I see now why you are bitter towards Gryffindor... still, you're very bright and brave. I assure you, you'll do well wherever you go... though I doubt you'd appreciate me putting you in Hufflepuff,' it chuckled. 'You'd definitely dislike it there. You'd be an outcast in either Slytherin or Gryffindor... so I declare you to be... "Ravenclaw!"' it announced loudly.

Dumbledore smiled and clapped, taking the Sorting Hat from her head. "Well then, Ms. Granger, we'll be needing to assign you to a bedroom now. While you were being sorted, I took the liberty of checking for available beds in all the Houses. Luckily for you, there's an extra bed in a room with three other girls. Their names are..." he looked down at the list, "Linnea Greene, Roxanne Clarke and Theresa Goldberg. I'll call for a student right now to introduce you to the school... it'd be best if you pretended that you are new to the school, so, just try to be in wide-eyed wonder." He smiled.

"But what about clothing and notebooks and stationery?"

Dumbledore waved a hand, "Oh, didn't you hear what Armando said? 'Help will always be given at Hogwarts to those who ask for it.'"

It was nearly dinner time by the time the student meant to show Hermione around showed up at Dumbledore's door.

A flushed red haired girl appeared at the door. She was very pretty, clear skin and bright green eyes that seemed familiar.

"Sorry I'm late, professor. I was in the middle of a snowball fight!"

'We hadn't any snow back at Hogwarts...' Hermione thought. "Sorry, forgot the date for a moment. What day is it again?"

"I think it's the 20th of November? Yeah... it is. Oh, I'm sorry. I'm Lily! Lily Evans. I'm a first year Gryffindor."

"Hello," Hermione greeted. "I'm Hermione Granger. I've just been sorted into Ravenclaw. I was homeschooled but my parents died," Hermione surreptitiously glanced over at Dumbledore. He nodded, glad that she remembered her cover-up story.

"Oh, that's sad. Too bad you're not a Gryffindor, we have the most fun," Lily smiled. "Come on, I'll introduce you to my friends!"

Lily led them down the corridor before Hermione could even say goodbye to the only face she could recognise. Before they went outside, Lily showed her quickly how to do a simple warming charm. "Don't worry, it takes a few tries, but it isn't even all that cold out," Lily began, thinking Hermione was weak with magic.

Little did she know that Hermione positively crackled with magical energy, creating a lasting warming charm.

"Huh, not bad," Lily complimented, impressed. "My friends are just over there. Hey guys!" she yelled, dashing out into the courtyard.

Hermione followed, less exuberant. "This is Hermione, she was homeschooled, but now she's a first year Ravenclaw! Hermione, meet my friends, Remus, Sirius, Peter, Marlene, Alice, Mary and Andromeda." She rattled off.

She didn't recognise any of them, though one looked suspiciously like Harry Potter. The Harry look-a-like smirked. "Evans!" he said, aghast. "You don't count me as one of your multitudinous friends? How dare you! Hello Hermione, I'm the dashingly handsome James Potter, that Lily here is head over heels in love with," he proclaimed, kissing Hermione's hand gallantly.

She blushed and Lily shoved him into the snow. "No, I'm not, you prat. Hermione, don't listen to him. He likes to hang around me when I'd prefer he bugger off." She smiled teasingly at him.

"Rude, Evans," he growled, frowning. All of a sudden he smiled suspiciously. He stood up, his arms behind his back.

"Potter," the red head said warningly. "Put your hands up where I can see them."

He smirked and yelled, "Fire!" and all the boys were suddenly pelting the girls with snowballs.

Hermione laughed, casually flicking her want to deter any snowball that came her way. She quickly went to the side, out of the firing range.

A shy, gangly looking boy with glasses joined her. "I'm Remus," he said quietly, looking at the fully fledged snow war happening before them.

They stood silently together until |Hermione noticed the sky going dark. "Hey, isn't it nearly dinner time?"

Everyone instantly dropped their weapons.

"Hey, she's right," a curly dark haired by said. Sirius, Hermione thought his name was. "We'd better head to the Great Hall, now! Last one there was to talk to nearly headless Nick!"

The crowd ran in and Remus and Hermione decided talking to nearly Headless Nick wasn't that bad, so walked behind the hungry students.

Please, leave a review! I've gotten such a wonderful response to this fic!


	3. Chapter 3

And another update for my adoring fans!

Previously:

"Hey, she's right," a curly dark haired by said. Sirius, Hermione thought his name was. "We'd better head to the Great Hall, now! Last one there was to talk to nearly headless Nick!"

The crowd ran in and Remus and Hermione decided talking to nearly Headless Nick wasn't that bad, so walked behind the hungry students.

"So, what are you interests?" Remus asked.

"Reading, learning and researching. Um, I like learning about civilisations and cultures and I'm especially good at maths. I am fond of walks in the woods, too."

Remus rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Don't go into the forest around-"

"Yeah... it's forbidden, I heard. Oh, sorry for interrupting you!" She blushed.

Remus waved her off. "Nah, it's fine. I don't really like the outdoors. It's much too wild and uncomfortable. You should see our library, it's huge! It has these great little nooks and crannies that are perfect for hide and go seek or reading or escaping from the ruckus that James and Sirius make. It's a shame you're not in Gryffindor House, though. You could be my shield from them! Our common room is really quiet and cosy... except after Quidditch tournaments. I suppose you're lucky to be in Ravenclaw; they're not as fiercely competitive as we are."

"Are there any rivalries here?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Other than the classic, Slytherin versus Gryffindor, not really. Though James does have a personal vendetta against this one Slytherin boy called Severus Snape. Personally, I think James takes it too far, but," he shrugged, "I can't control him all the time. At least he has an outlet. I'm just afraid people will get hurt in the coming years, once we know more harmful spells."

Hermione's lip curled in disgust, both at James' behaviour and Remus' attitude towards the whole thing. No wonder Snape loved to pick on Harry in Potions class. "Any other drama I should know about?"

Remus was pensive and adjusted his glasses, stilling almost his entire body. Remus could become quite still; Hermione suspected that when he was reading the only thing that would move would be his eyes.

"Well, Sirius loves to bother all the girls, so he'll definitely be a menace in the future. He doesn't pay attention in class. He's rather awful to work with; you'll have to do everything for him. Peter stutters a lot so he stays quiet, but he's not all that bright. Personally, I think he just follows us around because he feels more powerful with James and Sirius by his side. And the fact that we're all roommates."

Hermione nodded, taking note of each and every name. "What's the situation between James and Lily?"

"Oh," he rolled his eyes. "_Them. _I honestly don't know if by the time we graduate they'll be mortal enemies or married."

She giggled. "Or they will have killed each other by then."

"True," he laughed. "Well, welcome to the Great Hall. The ceiling is charmed to look like outside. You should've seen this place during Halloween! There were ghosts and pumpkins everywhere," he leaned against the door. "Speaking of ghosts, try to avoid the poltergeist named Peeves. He has a penchant for much up someone's day. Um," he blushed, looking everywhere but her. "Sorry for talking your ear off; no one around here listens."

"No, no, it's okay! I needed to learn as much as I could, so thank you." She smiled. "I guess that's the Gryffindor table?" She pointed to the one Lily was seated at.

"Yeah, and the Ravenclaw table's right beside it. Mary's seated over there, she's a Ravenclaw, too... I'm sure you'll get along."

She thanked him and hugged him, then they headed to their proper tables.

Severus Snape frowned. Almost everyone had come in for dinner, and still Hermione had not shown up. Had she left again? Did Dumbledore send her back? All of a sudden a large crowd of Gryffindors came in, sopping wet. Black and Potter glared at him before sitting down, but Hermione wasn't with them either. Lily looked at him apologetically; she had been hanging around Potter and his crew more often than not.

He and Lily had definitely grown apart.. Severus knew that she never really liked him; she was a Gryffindor at heart and loved to try to fix lost causes. She only ever talked to him when they were younger to find out more about the Wizarding World, or to complain about Petunia. Once they had been sorted into separate houses at Hogwarts, she had gained new friends that were nice and open and playful. Completely the opposite of Severus Snape.

Finally, two more figures appeared, Lupin and Hermione. Lupin leaned against the door and continued talking to her, seeming all to close for people who had just met. Severus' eyes narrowed as they hugged and left each other. 'Figures she's with the Gryffindor dunderheads,' he sneered mentally.

The Slytherin's eyebrow raised as Hermione sat down with the Ravenclaws. Dumbledore must've introduced her to his prized Gryffindors, Severus deduced.

The dark haired Slytherin finished his meal and left the Great Hall, catching Hermione's eye on his way out. He wanted to know if she would follow him, and leave her new Gryffindor pals. He much preferred Hermione over Lily; Hermione was a puzzle, and didn't actually mind his moods as much as Lily had. As well as the fact that they could butt heads without being hurt; Hermione's intellect matched, if not surpassed his own.

Lily frowned slightly as she saw Sev look at Hermione. He used to look at her, but stopped after realising she no longer had any interest in being his friend. She wasn't upset about Sev moving on; Sev was a childhood friend she had begun to outgrow but felt guilty about leaving him friendless. Still, Lily thought she should warn Hermione about Sev's past...

Lily Evans was sure Hermione would be a great friend for him; they were both quiet and friendless and preferred to stay out of the action and observe instead. The red head hoped that they would become close friends; it meant that she was finally able to separate completely from Sev, once and for all.

It wasn't like she hated Sev, on the contrary, she thought he was fantastic. But he was awfully broody and he didn't like to have fun often, unlike Lily. He was much too serious about school and rules, and he had the strangest enmity with James Potter.

Really, James wasn't so bad. He was similar to the boys at her muggle school; he was always dirty and annoying, but a lot of fun to be around. She honestly didn't understand why he hated the Slytherins so much; he was really intense about the inter-house rivalry.

Sighing, she went back to her treacle tart. It was by far her favourite treat Hogwarts served. Somehow the old school knew this and often put the majority of the treacle tart near her end of the table.

Hermione finished the Hogwarts meal fairly quickly, pretending to be in awe over how everything magically appeared and how amazing everything tasted. She and Mary MacDonald, who had been in the snowball fight, had a brief conversation over what they were learning in school. Hermione breathed a sigh of relief that the curriculum hadn't changed all that much; it sure was handy that she'd already memorized everything in her text books.

She saw Severus get up and tilt his head towards her. Shrugging, she said good bye to Mary.

"Wait- Hermione?" Mary cut in. "You know where Ravenclaw tower is, right?"

"Uh, yeah, sure... what's the password, again?"

Mary looked at her funny. "You're a Ravenclaw. You have to figure that out for yourself, of course."

"Oh... er-right. Well, I'll be off, then." She left the Great Hall casually, waving at Remus who smiled and waved back at her.

As she left the feast and walked through the darkened corridor, she looked around for the boy she had first met. She had no idea why he wanted to see her again.. probably just curious and wanted to find out more about her. She wasn't sure if she should trust him or not... this _was _the future Professor Snape, not to mention a Slytherin. Slytherins could never be trusted and were renowned for black-mailing others. Still, he had been an interesting character, and she wanted to become friends with him, for sure.

Frowning, Hermione didn't see any sign of him. Then again, this was Snape. It was very likely he was lurking in the shadows, quietly observing. She sighed and decided to take a walk outside by the lake, she loved the way the stars reflected on the ice layer above the water.

"Care to join me for a walk, Hermione?" a voice said from the shadows. Hermione smiled victoriously as Severus Snape swept out of the darkness and gave her a small smirk. He extended his arm in askance.

"I was going to go for a walk anyway, Severus," she replied, taking his arm.

They walked for a few short moments after performing a warming charm on themselves. "So... it appears you are a Ravenclaw..." he noted, looking across at her. He still hadn't hit his growth spurt and was still her height. Soon enough he'd be ridiculously tall and able to look over her shoulder.

"And you're a Slytherin named Severus Snape," he raised an eyebrow. "What? I thought we had decided to state the obvious."

A corner of his mouth twitched upward. "I'll try not to make conversation, then, Hermione."

She shoved his shoulder playfully. "Oh, shut up. So, show me the best place to go for a moonlit stroll," she suggested.

"You don't know? And I thought you were a Hogwarts student," he bit back sarcastically.

"I was mostly hidden away in the library trying not to confront people. No one really seemed to like me," she confessed.

"Seems like those Gryffindors tolerate your presence. Especially Lupin."

Her nose crinkled. "Who is Lupin?"

"Remus," he said slowly, as though she were a five year old.

"Oh... yeah.. I think it was more that he was annoyed with the other Gryffindors for being so rowdy all the time and decided to talk my ear off because I wouldn't stop him," she shrugged.

"Hm. Well the lake is frozen over if you want to go around on it." Severus suggested.

She nodded and took his hand. They walked in silent companionship as she attempted not to continually question him about everything. Meanwhile, he looked over at her and frowned. She was a mystery... someone from a different time that possibly knew him and Professor Dumbledore. And, of course, the greatest mystery of all: she tolerated his presence.

She looked over to notice he was staring at her quite intensely, not unlike Professor Snape. "Severus... do you have any sort of nick name? 'Severus' is quite long." She attempted to make conversation.

"Hm. Potter and Black have a grand old time calling me Snivellus, or the greasy git, but Lily used to call me Sev when we were younger," he reminisced.

"You and Lily were friends?"

He smiled sadly. "We grew up in the same neighbourhood, and I noticed she had magic. I started telling her all about the Wizarding World and her older sister became jealous. Lily accused me of destroying her relationship with her sister and she was never really the forgiving type. Lily and I... well, after being sorted in different Houses, we stopped talking as much. She found new, better, more fun friends and decided she was better off without me. We haven't talked since September."

"...Oh.. Well, she seems awfully bubbly and hyper from what I've seen. "

He chuckled. "Quite. I could never really keep up with her."

"So, why do you hate Potter so much?"

He snorted. "He encompasses everything Gryffindor. He assumes he can get everything he wants by smiling at teachers, and he gets away with everything because Dumbledore is fond of the idiot."

"So what's wrong with Gryffindors anyway? What's their problem with Slytherin? Remus was filling me in on House rivalries... no one ever really explained when I first got in to Hogwarts."

He nodded brusquely. "Gryffindors have a penchant for trouble and are quite loyal. The thing is, Slytherin has a reputation for being pureblood snobs that use people and pay others for doing what they themselves should be doing. The two houses have two opposing morals; Slytherin's is 'Every person for himself,' whereas Gryffindor's is 'Better together than alone.' In Slytherin, you don't make friends; you make business partners. In Gryffindor, you become part of a family."

"Now wonder there's so much animosity," Hermione muttered.

Severus smirked. "Of course, that doesn't mean every Slytherin fends for themselves, nor does it mean there are no Gryffindor outcasts. There are always exception, but there is a general rule."

Hermione agreed whole-heartedly with his observation. She'd been the outsider in Gryffindor, watching everyone become best friends before she had the chance to even meet someone who didn't mind her presence.

"Did you ever have any nick-names?" Severus asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Bloody know-it-all, friendless loser, insufferable Gryffindor..." her eyes widened.

He frowned. "Gryffindor?"

Hermione looked at the ground. "Well... yeah... I was a Gryffindor. I didn't fit in though. And when I tried on the Sorting Hat today, I had a conversation with it telling it why I shouldn't go back to Gryffindor. It was awful; no one liked me and this one boy loved teasing me and calling me names."

"Hm. I can sympathise."

There was an awkward silence. "What about Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff?"

Severus laughed. "Hufflepuff barely counts as a House. They're fair to a fault and naively friendly," he rolled his eyes. "Their dorm is neither down in the dungeons nor up in a tower. They're too fair to choose one or the other, so they decided that their dorm would be right beside the kitchens."

Hermione smiled. "I'm sure they're not all like that. You make them seem like such dunderheads!"

He smiled widely, slightly proud he'd made her laugh. "Well, if you're clever, you go to Ravenclaw; the brave go to Gryffindor; Slytherins are sly and ambitions. Slytherin's slyness counters Gryffindor's gallantry; Ravenclaw's... um... rationality counter's Hufflepuff's... er... humanity?"

She nodded, impressed. "Nice alliteration."

He shrugged. "I try."

It started snowing and they turned around to look at the outline of the school. The snow topped the roofs making it seem all the more magical.

"Um... so, Severus, one thing nobody's told me yet is what day of the week it is. It's probably not a school night... and this afternoon there weren't any classes... so is it a Saturday or a Sunday?"

He frowned for a second, forgetting she wasn't from his time. "Actually, it's Friday, Miss Know-It-All. It seems Potter and his crew decided to ruin the Potions' Lab as well as write crass words in the Astronomy Tower so that they could skip the last two periods of school. I would have had potions with him, and I skipped Divination," he rolled his eyes. "Next class, I'll be the one pegged for impending doom."

Hermione giggled. "Well I'm glad to know Potter isn't destroying your education."

"Just my social life," Severus muttered darkly.

Weird place to cut it off, I know, but I didn't want this chapter to be obscenely large in comparison to the others. And yay! Double update! Please review/favourite/follow, I'll write faster!


	4. Chapter 4

PSA: And once more, we have an update! Someone reviewed a while ago that my characters seemed too mature for their age of eleven, however, I'm going to claim that Hermione, Severus and Remus are really mature and smart because of their family backgrounds. Remus kind of has to be pretty mature, because he has to constantly hide his furry little problem to protect his friends. As well as the fact that he wants to go against the stigmas that werewolves have, so he's purposefully not headstrong and overly reactive to things, he keeps calm and collected. Severus has always been the marker in the crayon box, he had to mature really quickly due to his abusive father, he basically had to raise himself and had no time to be a kid. Hermione has been bullied the majority of her life and seeks solace in books, which causes her to be somewhat uncomfortable in social situations and finds the undeveloped intellect of an 11 year old to be annoying. Hence why she prefers Remus and Severus over other students.

Previously:

He frowned for a second, forgetting she wasn't from his time. "Actually, it's Friday, Miss Know-It-All. It seems Potter and his crew decided to ruin the Potions' Lab as well as write crass words in the Astronomy Tower so that they could skip the last two periods of school. I would have had potions with him, and I skipped Divination," he rolled his eyes. "Next class, I'll be the one pegged for impending doom."

Hermione giggled. "Well I'm glad to know Potter isn't destroying your education."

"Just my social life," Severus muttered darkly.

They started heading back. "So who do you count as your most trusted friends?"

Severus sneered. "I am a Slytherin. We do not _have _trusted friends. The closest I can come to saying, would be Lucius Malfoy, because I can tolerate him in small quantities."

"Malfoys are prats even in my time."

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I find their blood supremacy idealism to be a bit dominant at times. They're also bloody obnoxious and think everything should be handed to them on a silver platter," she complained.

Severus snorted. "Lucius Malfoy isn't nearly as bad as that. Yes, he cares much about blood status and family background, but he's polite and courteous. You must watch your back around him, though. He doesn't forgive and forget easily."

"Seems like an absolute joy to be around."

He shrugged. "He's better than Potter and his pack."

"And what are your views on blood purity?" she asked as neutrally as possible.

Severus' eyes narrowed untrustingly. "What are yours?"

"I may be biased, but I personally think that purebloods, halfbloods, muggleborns, squibs and muggles are all human and deserve to be treated thusly," she stated calmly.

"I've had... bad experiences with muggles." He said carefully. "But that in no way clouds my view on muggleborns. The Slytherin house is well known for its idealistic view of a muggle-free world and yet I believe that not all muggles are... without use," he rationalised.

"Bloody Slytherin. Your wording could be construed to fit anyone's opinion."

He smirked unrepentantly. "Caught on to that, did you?"

"So, what? You expect me to divulge my thoughts on a serious matter in return for neutrality?"

Severus shrugged. "To be fair, your answer said very little about you. Other than the fact that you certainly aren't a Gryffindor or Hufflepuff. You're not too trusting at all, are you?"

"Takes one to know one," she retorted.

"Touché."

"Isn't it getting to be close to curfew?"

He quirked an eyebrow. "Curfew? No one actually abides by that regulation."

"Isn't that dangerous considering the state of the Wizarding World at this point?"

He frowned. "Considering the fact that many students are already participating in the wizarding affairs, people prefer not to question where someone's been for fear that they'll find out one of their closest friends is, in reality, a Death Eater." He said the last few words in a darker tone.

"Well, that's a cheery thought. So, what, people prefer oblivion to knowledge?"

He shrugged. "Mostly. Though in Slytherin, everyone questions everyone even if you're not doing something suspicious. Especially if you're not doing anything suspicious. I would assume Ravenclaws would prefer knowing over not, but I wouldn't know for sure."

"Hm... Slytherins certainly do live up to their reputation."

They stopped talking for a while, wandering along the school grounds. "Do you know what classes you have, yet?" the Slytherin asked her nonchalantly.

"What classes do you think I have?"

He rolled his eyes. "No need to be so testy."

"What?" she laughed. "Uncomfortable when you're the only one supplying information?"

"I thought a Ravenclaw would be easy picking for information."

"Not this one."

"Shouldn't you believe in fairness, though? I'll show you mine if you show me yours?"

She blushed and bit her lip. "Crude," she pushed his shoulder lightly, only realising now that she had been holding his hand the entire time. "It _is _fair. You know my biggest secret... that I'm not... from this time zone. Why should I give you any more information until I can properly trust you?"

He shrugged. "True."

"Still not going to tell me anything?"

"Not a bit," he grinned cheekily.

"Bloody Slytherins."

They were at the front entrance of the castle, thoroughly soaked from the melted snow and slightly uncomfortable. "Hey... Severus?" she hesitated.

"Hm," he sighed.

"Do you know where Ravenclaw tower is?" she smiled sheepishly.

He rolled his eyes. "I'll tell you if you tell me your blood status."

"What's yours?"

"Well then, what's your schedule?" he tried again.

"I'll tell you when I know."

He sighed, exasperated. "Fine, then. What is something you _can _tell me?"

"I'll beat every test score you ever get. Except maybe in Potions," her eyes widened. "Oops."

Severus grinned victoriously and offered her his arm. "This way to Ravenclaw tower, my lady. So how do you know I have an aptitude for Potions? Am I a world renowned Potions Master that discovered something important in the future? Do I own the best apothecary? Are my potions used in hospitals? Am I written in your Potions textbook?" he pestered.

"You assume I would answer your questions so easily? Severus," she tutted, "I'm sure you can figure all that out on your own," she said, quoting him from earlier.

He growled, frustrated, as she smirked and raised an eyebrow, mimicking his features. "Bloody cryptic Ravenclaw," he muttered.

"I try," she smirked.

He stopped at the bottom of a narrow winding staircase. "It's up at the top. From there I don't really know what to do... but just be clever and I'm sure you'll succeed. If not," his eyes narrowed, "I suppose you'll have to wait, proving you to be nothing more than a Gryffindor."

She shrugged. "Maybe I'm a Slytherin."

Severus frowned as Hermione walked up the staircase. "Bloody Ravenclaw," she heard him swear under his breath.

Finally, reaching the top of the staircase, Hermione came upon a simple wooden door with a knocker in the shape of a bird. Hermione knocked it once, hoping it'd be a case of someone opening the door for her. How foolish she was.

The bird's beak opened, but instead of a squawking, a musical voice came out.

"_It's clear and it's thick,_

_It's hot and it's cold,_

_It's quiet but quick,_

_And it's thousands of years old."_

Hermione's brow furrowed. She had had enough riddles for one day, but apparently every time she wanted to go to her dorm, she would have to do a riddle. She pondered the riddle, taking it in piece by piece. 'Glass can be clear and thick... or hot and cold... it's isn't quick or old, though. What else is clear?' she thought. All of a sudden it hit her. Good Merlin she was being dense. It was all around her!

"Air," she answered confidently.

"Correct," said the voice and the door swung open to reveal the Ravenclaw common room.

There was no one there, they were probably all up in their dorms studying or reading. The room had a nice air flow, reminiscent of a nest. There were so many arched windows that one would feel as though they were outside. Of course there were book cases filled to the brim everywhere; Hermione wouldn't be surprised that these books were rare and wouldn't be found in the Hogwarts library. All the furniture in the Gryffindor common room was made of wood, but here it was all made of white marble, making it seem more like a place of worship than a cosy little den to talk to friends or play wizarding chess. Obviously there were bronze and blue banners hanging everywhere... though Ravenclaws weren't renowned for being proud, there was no double that they loved their house fiercely.

There were two staircases, one was for boys and the other for girls. Luckily the Ravenclaw house had the wisdom to label which archway was which... Hermione shuddered to think of the embarrassment she'd have if she ended up in the boys' dorms.

Reaching the top of the stairs, Hermione was glad to find a map indicating that seventh years were on the bottom, then first years on the second level, and second years on the third level and so on and so forth. Then it was divided alphabetically on each level, which was such a great way to organise people, she wondered why Gryffindor never did the same. She found her dorm easily, there being bronze placards on each door. Beside her name were three other names; Roxanne Clarke, Theresa Goldberg and Linnaea Greene.

Hesitantly, Hermione opened the door, noting that it was getting pretty late at night. The three other girls looked up from their books. The beds looks as though they were floating, and each one had its own window beside it. Underneath the beds were trunks.

"Hello," a girl greeted in a soft voice. She had kinky blonde hair that was naturally messy and thick, and greenish gold eyes. Her lightly tanned skin was freckled from too much time in the sun, which was odd considering it was well within the winter months. "I'm Linnaea Greene, you must be Hermione Granger."

"I'm Roxanne Clarke," a dark haired girl grumbled, going back under the covers.

"And I'm Theresa Goldberg! Feel free to call me Resa, but if you call me Terry I will hex you in your sleep," she smiled sweetly. She seemed highly excitable. Her golden hair was tied back into a braid which seemed to be about two feet long. She had honey brown eyes and an olive skin tone, unlike Roxanne who was extremely pale. Her large red rimmed circular glasses made her eyes magnified, causing her to look all the more excited. "Your bed's right next to mine!" she continued gleefully. "And your stuff is already put away in your trunk... there's an index for where everything is inside. I figured you might get here late, and wouldn't want to see a pile of stuff to organise, so I did it for you!"

"Thank you," Hermione said gratefully. "You're all very wonderful. Was my class schedule there as well?" she addressed Resa.

Resa nodded. "I took the liberty to make several copies; there's one by your bed and one in each notebook, but it's the same as mine! Sorry," she flushed, "I have a bad habit of organising everything."

"Oh, no, no, it's alright! I'm the same," Hermione reassured.

"Great! Well, we were all up because we wanted to meet you, but," Resa yawned, "Saturdays are the best for studying, so we wanted to get some rest."

Hermione sat down and looked up at the ceiling, which was charmed to look like the sky. Today had been fantastic, she concluded, and shortly fell asleep.

"Hermy, wake up!" Resa cried, early in the morning.

"... yeah?" Hermione said from under the covers. "What time is it?"

"Almost five in the morning!" She replied cheerily.

"Right. And why should I get out of bed?"

"Because I have stuff to show you. People to see, things to do! We need to be properly introduced!" Resa exclaimed.

"Fine," Hermione grumbled, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. She looked around. "Where did Roxanne and Linnaea go?"

"Oh, Roxanne is probably hidden in the library, growling at whatever comes close to her. Linnaea's in the common room, she likes to go there whenever I wake up because she finds me to be annoying in the morning. I think she naps whenever I'm away." She shrugged, adjusting her glasses.

"No wonder," Hermione muttered. She knew she could get used to waking up so early, though. "So, Resa, tell me more about you."

"I have a dog at home that I love, her name is Lulu, and I have a dad and a little brother. He's probably going to be sorted into Slytherin, but he's pretty nice. I had a shorter haircut when I was younger," Hermione zoned out, thinking about Severus and James and Lily and everyone else she had met.

"Hermione?"

"Yeah," Hermione pulled herself from her thoughts.

"You should go meet your friends today. Get to know them better," she said.

Hermione frowned. "You're perceptive."

"My great grandmother was a seer," she said airily. "You should go along, I'm going to go talk to Marius Verne. His grandmother just died this morning." She skipped out of the room.

Hermione rolled her eyes. Resa certainly was a character. She sighed and got dressed, all too aware that it was only 5:30 in the morning. She went down to the deserted great hall and breakfasted, grabbing a book from the library and heading up to Gryffindor tower to find Remus. By the time she got up all the stairs, it was nearly 7:30, still too early for any boy to be awake. She leaned against the banister outside the common room, waiting for someone to come out.

Finally, the mousy rotund boy named... Peter? Came out of the portrait. "Hey, Peter?"

"Um,erm, uh... y-ye, hell-hi?" he stammered out, surprised at her presence.

"Could you tell me the password so I can go ask Lily something?" she asked him sweetly.

"Oh, uhm, well, I... uh, yeah.. it's um, uh... 'maxime sapidum,'" Peter said.

"Thanks, I owe you one," she replied, saying the password to the Fat Lady who then opened up.

She could have just said to Peter to hold the portrait open, but knowledge like that was always useful. Hermione sat in one of the comfy chairs, and opened her book.

A few chapters later, a voice interrupted her reading. "Good book?"

"What? Oh, hello Remus," she smiled warmly at him. He had a vaguely disheveled look, his glasses were askew and his hair was mussed. He was still wearing blue pinstripe pajamas.

"How'd you get in?"

She waved a hand. "I'm a Ravenclaw. I figured it out."

"Right," he grinned. "So, why're you here? And at this time?"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I have a roommate who enjoys waking up early. And I came here, because I was bored... Ravenclaws are awfully introverted, and I figured I would take you up on your offer to explore the library. You're right though, this common room is rather quiet and cosy... perfect for early morning reading."

He shrugged. "Yeah... well, um, yeah we could go to the library. Just lemme get dressed and we'll head out..." he rubbed his eyes. "And a bit of breakfast too, I'll be quick about that though." He sat down tiredly.

"I'm sure you'll wolf it down."

He looked at her, amused at her unintentional word play. "Yep, okay. Good morning," he lay down and curled up in a ball, instantly asleep again.

That's the end for this chapter, the next will be up soon.. like within this week, I think. 


	5. Chapter 5

I've gotten a great response to this story... lots of follows and favourites! It'd be fantastic if you commented on the story, I'd love to know your opinion regarding how everything is going. Sorry about the slow update, got a bit of writers block and decided to just skip through a couple weeks.

Previously:

He shrugged. "Yeah... well, um, yeah we could go to the library. Just lemme get dressed and we'll head out..." he rubbed his eyes. "And a bit of breakfast too, I'll be quick about that though." He sat down tiredly.

"I'm sure you'll wolf it down."

He looked at her, amused at her unintentional word play. "Yep, okay. Good morning," he lay down and curled up in a ball, instantly asleep again.

Hermione and Remus were in a little nook in the library reading their own books in companionable quietness. Remus had refused to change out of his plaid pajama bottoms, but had acquiesced when Hermione asked him to at least wear a sweater. They compromised with him not wearing any shoes.

"Hey, er... Remus?" she broke the silence.

"Mm?" he looked up from his book, adjusting his eyeglasses.

"So... the whole Slytherin and Gryffindor feud..."

"Yeah? What about it?"

"Well, do you... are you against Slytherins, too?" she hesitated.

He scratched the back of his head. "Haven't really given it much thought, to be honest. I just kind of went along with it, you know? Doesn't make much sense... now that I think of it... why?"

"Oh, just... I was talking to Severus yesterday, and he really didn't seem like such a cantankerous git... in fact, he was not unkind to me at all." Hermione said neutrally.

"Oh... _him. _Well, he's smart, I'll give him that. He's rather hated amongst basically everyone... just something about him, I guess. But I mean, if you don't mind him..." Remus shrugged.

"Huh." She looked around the library. "Well, I'm quite done with reading, there's only so much you can do in one day."

"Yeah, er... did you want to do something else?"

"I was thinking of making snowmen... we could charm them to throw snow balls at people," she giggled at the thought.

He frowned. "That sounded awfully Gryffindorish of you. I bet you'd get along with Sirius."

She laughed, "I highly doubt that."

"It'd take so much _effort _to go outside though," Remus complained. "And I'm not wearing shoes!"

"Your fault. I tried to get you to wear shoes."

"But it's such a _hassle._ Why would anyone want to go outside anyway? It's nasty and uncomfortable... and wet and dirty..."

Hermione giggled. "Get up, you lazy bum. Where's your Gryffindor spirit? We could go sledding instead, if you'd prefer," she suggested.

"If we go sledding, I don't need to wear shoes." He said petulantly.

"Good Godric, you're such a child! You need to get some warmer clothes anyway!"

"Nah, James, Sirius and I put a set of winter clothes in a hidden cupboard near the exit so we'd never have to walk _all the way_ back up to Gryffindor tower to get them," he smirked.

"Then let's go! There'll be fresh snow on the ground, perfect for sledding!" she enthused.

Sighing, Remus got up and they went off out of the library. Hermione skipped along the hallways, unperturbed by Remus' foul mood. She really couldn't blame him; she wasn't a morning person either, but Resa's bubbly attitude was enough to force her out of her normal morning grogginess.

"It's over here," Remus rumbled, tapping his wand against a brick in the wall. "Sirius found it when James pushed him into the wall a little while back." The wall caved in to reveal a small cupboard, perfect for storing winter supplies. He shrugged, "There's stuff like this all over Hogwarts."

Hermione grinned. "Well, what should I wear, then?"

"I put three coats and four jumpers down here. And there's tons of mittens, scarves and hats to go around. They're Gryffindor themed, though," he smiled sheepishly, pushing up his glasses.

"It's fine. It's not like the red and gold is going to burn me," she reasoned, grabbing a bright red scarf and matching mittens and hat.

"Here," Remus laughed, sticking a red woollen sweater on her. "My mum made that for me." He shuddered, "She insists on making one each year, despite the fact that I hate wool. It smells weird." He grimaced.

They got dressed and headed outside grabbing two sleds that Hogwarts had graciously provided. Sliding down the hill, Remus soon lost his grumpy exterior and had fun. "Hey Hermione, I bet I can go faster than you!"

"I don't doubt it," she snorted, inching along hesitantly. Finally, she gave up. Her nerves couldn't handle sliding down hills at high speeds. Instead, she threw a snowball at the back of Remus' head as he climbed back up the hill.

"Hey!"

Hermione smiled innocently. "What?"

Soon, the two were covered in snow, laughing their hearts out. "I feel all... wet," Remus complained.

Hermione giggled and lay down and made snow angels. "Yep! What did you expect, warm cuddly snow?"

"Maybe some reading time and a nice hot chocolate in front of a fire with a good friend," Remus grumbled under his breath. It was getting towards the full moon, and he was becoming irritable, angry or morose concerning nearly everything.

She fell into the swing of things over the next few weeks; she spent most of her time with either Remus, Severus or Resa. Hermione did get to experience James and Sirius' pranks, though more often than not she didn't fall for them. She'd see them gazing expectantly at her with smirks on their faces and Remus would shake his head slightly to warn her.

She quickly rose to the top of her class, neck and neck with Severus. She and Resa became quick as thieves and could always be found during meals laughing with their heads bent together at the Ravenclaw table. They studied together at night and recounted the daily events, but Resa never bothered Hermione when she wanted to be quiet or alone.

She seldom saw Severus during the day; in class he was consistently absent or secluded, but after dinner they would go on walks around the school grounds, talking about this and that.

She occasionally spent time with the Marauders and the other Gryffindors, though would have preferred quiet reading time over the intense ruckus. Mostly she and Remus would watch as the Gryffindors chased each other down the corridors or played hide and go seek or had snow ball fights in the courtyard. All in all, Hermione had a relatively balanced life.

Soon, the winter holidays were coming. Hermione grew anxious as she thought of the perfect gifts for Resa, Remus and Severus. But of course life couldn't be as simple as that. The Wizarding World grew darker as Voldemort's control spread. The Slytherins were constantly talking about becoming Death Eaters, and a few of the seventh year students were bragging about all the dark stuff they did over the weekends.

One day, Hermione heard whispers that something had happened on the grounds of Hogwarts. No one knew exactly what had happened, but during lunch, Headmaster Dippet called everyone to be quiet.

"Something horrible has happened here, at Hogwarts," he began gravely, looking over the student body. "One of the leaders of the Centaurs who live in our forest has been found dead on the grounds of Hogwarts. We have not yet found the killer, but we ask that all students abide curfew and never go out of class alone without informing another student or teacher. No student is to wander by the lake or forest; you may go outside in the courtyards if you must. Quidditch has been cancelled," at that there was an outcry. Several students were in an uproar, especially Slytherins and Gryffindors. Quidditch was a sacred Hogwarts pastime; banning Quidditch was akin to banning students from using magic.

Resa leaned over to Hermione. "That'll mean that Ravenclaw will win this year," she whispered excitedly. "With no Quidditch points added, we'll get more points in answering questions correctly!"

"Resa," Hermione scolded lightly.

"What? I'm only looking on the bright side of things."

"Attention," Dippet coughed feebly. "Prefects are asked to take attendance before curfew every night. That is all," he sat down again.

"Guess we can't sneak out to study in the library, then," Resa shrugged, flipping hr braid back.

"Ah, well, I suppose I won't be able to see my illegitimate boyfriend about buying some dragon eggs," Hermione sighed like it was the end of the world.

Resa giggled. "Drat."

"Well, we'd better get going to Potions. We have it with Slytherins today, so that should be interesting."

"Ugh," Resa moaned. "Don't get me started on Potions. I don't understand how I can muck it up! I follow the instructions perfectly!"

"Yeah, until you get distracted by Marius Verne," Hermione pointed out.

"Oh shut up." The blond braided girl scowled. "Marius is such a riot. He must be the only extrovert in Ravenclaw other than me!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "And I'm sure you'll have the loudest children... that is, if you pass Potions."

"Fair point. Shall we go?"

"Lets."

Hermione loved Potions class. She and Severus would always work together, guaranteeing them a great grade. Professor Slughorn was always watching them, ecstatic at their progress.

"So what do you think killed the centaur" she asked him, cutting up wormwood.

He shrugged. "Couldn't have been an acromantula... the centaurs can defend themselves against just about anything that lives in the forest. A bunch of Slytherins claim that it's an announcement from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, asking us to join him. A few of the older Slytherins say they did it," Severus rolled his eyes.

"That's Slytherin house for you... the Ravenclaws haven't said much, they don't like to speculate... they prefer not saying anything if they don't know for sure. Doubtless, there'll be a ton of Ravenclaws researching in the library tonight until curfew."

"Hm, so I guess we won't go for our nightly stroll for the next little while."

Hermione thought for a moment. "I know this really cool underground cavern we can visit, if you'd still like to take a walk. It'd take a while, so it's best if we do this on Saturday. Do you know any good blasting charms? You'd have to knock out a section of a wall..."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "I suppose I could aks around Slytherin house... someone will be bound to know a destructive spell like that. And I think I have enough material to blackmail just about everyone in my house."

Hermione grimaced. "I don't feel good about destroying school property... perhaps an alternative solution? We could put a charm on the wall so we could go through it?"

"Interesting idea. If it doesn't exist, you can always create a spell. It's infinitely harder than finding one... but if you know your way around the Latin language..."

"I'd love to find out why our magic only works with Latin incantations... it doesn't make much sense, does it? We do accidental magic when we're younger without knowing Latin at all."

Severus frowned. "And wand movements, too. I wonder if there's a point at all..."

"And why does wandless magic work?"

Professor Slughorn came over just as they were putting a stopper on their vial of the required potion. "My, my, aren't you two inquisitive today!" he exclaimed, patting his stomach.

"Professor, we're always inquisitive," Severus drawled.

"Um, Professor Slughorn?" Hermione asked sweetly.

"Yes, my dear?"

She glanced surreptitiously at Severus. "Would it be possible for Severus and me to have a pass to the Forbidden section of the library? He and I were curious about magic etymology and... um... the potion we were working on today. We wanted a more in depth explanation; it seems the descriptions found in the other texts are insufficient."

"Are you sure you two don't just want to have a sneak peek into the forbidden areas and try and find out about the centaurs?" he winked.

"Of course not, Professor," Severus cut in smoothly. "We know that the Hogwarts staff have it all under control."  
"Well," Slughorn grumbled, "I suppose I can trust my two brightest students. I ask that you both go together, though. Ms Granger, I haven't had the pleasure of knowing you for as long as I've known my snake, Mr Snape. I'd feel much more comfortable with that arrangement."

"Thank you, Professor Slughorn," Severus replied curtly, giving the older man the vial of their potion.

"Ha! Excellent colour, thickness and sheen! I dare say we have two future potions masters in our midst!" Slughorn clapped. "Meet me after class for your pass."

Ugh that chapter was agonizing to write! I am sincerely sorry for this chapter... it was figuratively torture... it stayed at about 500 words for a solid... two, three days... i just kind of... stared at it...


	6. Chapter 6

Previously:

"Thank you, Professor Slughorn," Severus replied curtly, giving the older man the vial of their potion.

"Ha! Excellent colour, thickness and sheen! I dare say we have two future potions masters in our midst!" Slughorn clapped. "Meet me after class for your pass."

Severus and Hermione still had time to kill after putting their utensils and ingredients away, so they charmed sheets of paper and passed notes to each other.

Hermione charmed hers into a phoenix that flew over to Severus and burst into flames before falling flat and forming once more into a sheet of parchment paper. There wasn't anything written on it; if she had felt the need to tell him something, well, he _was _sitting right next to her.

Severus' face scrunched in concentration as he did a complicated series of wand movements, sending a small man made of ink to walk over onto her page causing little ink footprints to appear. The ink man began to write in crude letters, 'meet me after dinner to go to the forbidden section?'

Smiling, Hermione said a spell. Another ink man flew from a hand glider as made of ink to splat against Severus' page replying, 'yes'.

The bell rang. They had just spent half an hour passing notes. Severus and Hermione rose from their desks, packing their things into their bags slowly as the rest of the Slytherins and Ravenclaws cleared out. A few Slytherins glared at Hermione; a lot of them didn't like the fact that one of their own decided to befriend a Ravenclaw.

Professor Slughorm walked over to them and handed them each a separate sheet of paper. "Now I've placed a lot of trust in you two. It's an unwritten rule that only seventh years are allowed permission to the Forbidden section," he looked them each in the eye.

"Thank you, sir," said Severus.

"We won't abuse this privilege," Hermione promised, nodding seriously.

Severus escorted her to her next class, Charms, which she had with the Gryffindors. Many pureblood Slytherins and Gryffindors escorted other girls, taking up an old tradition. Once they were in sight of the classroom, he left, not wanting to cause a scene.

Hermione got into class quickly, sitting beside Remus. Resa was sitting next to her current crush, the Ravenclaw Marius Verne and Mary MacDonald on her left. James had somehow managed to sit next to Lily, causing Sirius to bother a different female Gryffindor, Marlene McKinnon.

Hermione sighed, watching Lily get increasingly annoyed at James' antics.

"Think we should trade partners with them?" Remus suggested, also looking at the Gryffindor couple.

"Hm. I'm not sure if they need more time apart or more time together," Hermione mused, watching them curiously.

"Well, they'll have to get along for today's lesson. I heard we're charming small objects to grow wings and fly... which could definitely turn messy if James and Lily aren't getting along."

"I guess they can survive one class together. Besides, I don't much feel like dealing with Lily's issues right now." Hermione replied, thinking back to the other times she was partnered with Lily and the inane chatter and complaints she had to go through.

"Good afternoon, class," Professor Flitwick greeted. "In you desks you'll find a variety of small objects. Using this charm," he flipped the board around, "or any other charm you can find in your text book, cause the object to sprout wings and fly around for at least twelve seconds."

"Oh, this'll be fun. I've been practicing this one," Hermione grinned.

She had found a text on one of the top shelves in the Ravenclaw library that had plenty of ostentatious charms, though they weren't much use in every day circumstances.

"Haec faciat eximius bellus pinnis et iris,*" she intoned, slashing her wand down in a zig zag.

The four objects in front of her; a key, a quill, a Prefect badge and a goblet sprouted wings and flew around each other, each object shifting through all of the colours of the rainbow. Sparks flew out of them whenever they collided into each other, causing a sparkly rainbow to appear.

Remus sighed. "Is there any point to Gryffindor trying to win the House cup this year with you doing these freaking amazing spells?"

"Not at all," Hermione smirked, looking all too Slytherin and making Remus uncomfortable.

The short Professor Flitwick came over and clapped. "Absolutely amazing, Ms Granger! You obviously checked the learning schedule and did a bit of personal research! Ten points to Ravenclaw!"

A few minutes later, Remus, Lily and Resa all managed to perform the charm on the board, all looking quite proud while the other students grew exponentially more frustrated with their stationary objects.

By the end of the class, twenty students had achieved the spell or something akin to it, and ten others were still groaning frustratedly. Gartus Flaherty and Ferris Fletcher, both Ravenclaw, had given up and gone to the back of the classroom to throw paper airplanes they charmed to zoom around the others' head.

Hermione had a spare period after lunch with Hufflepuff, and decided to get to know a few of the,. There was no way that they were all idiots as Severus had implied. She separated herself from her Ravenclaw peers and sat down next to three Hufflepuff students in the corridor.

"Hello," she greeted. "I'm somewhat new here, my name's Hermione Granger."

"Hey, I'm Matthew Gillan," a dark haired boy said. His hair flopped in his face and he reclined. He was in the middle of a growth spurt; his long gangly limbs seemed disproportionate to his baby face. "These are my two best mates, Karen Curtiff and Arthur Vanier," he introduced, pointing at the red haired girl and the sandy haired boy. From behind, Karen and Arthur could pass as Lily and Remus, if Remus had short hair instead of the floppy mop he was too lazy to cut.

"I figured I should diversify the people I know. So far, I've really only met the Ravenclaws and the majority of the Gryffindors."

"There's a lot of Hufflepuffs in our year," Karen commented. "Nearly... twenty, I think," she shrugged.

"Eighteen, actually," Arthur butted in.

"So what do you guys usually do during a free period?" Hermione asked curiously.

Matt shrugged. "Eat. Tease Karen about her moon face... I dunno, we mostly just hang about, wasting space."

Karen shoved him. "I do _not _have moon face, it's not my fault I have naturally pale skin and a round face."

Arthur sided with her. "Better than being a sloth like Matty."

The red head frowned. "Matt's more of a... baby giraffe. Look at his legs! They're all wobbly," she laughed. "Wouldn't you say so, 'Mione?"

Hermione frowned a bit, stunned at how easy going the Hufflepuff trio was. "Er, yeah, I suppose. I haven't seen him walk though, so for all I know he could be as graceful as a gazelle."

Karen rolled her eyes. "Classic Ravenclaw response. I guess you look a bit like a moose... or a beaver. But Matty here is definitely clumsy like a baby giraffe. You should see him in potions class! Actually, no, you don't. Every class he either trips and ruins someone's potion, or he bumps into the table knocking over ingredients into his cauldron."

"Hey! One time I made a decent potion without mucking it up!" Matt argued.

"Didn't you drop your phial on your way to give it to Slughorn?" Arthur asked.

Matt blushed. "Shut up."

Hermione laughed then cast, 'tempus', checking the time. "Sorry guys, I have to dash. I have a history of magic test with Professor Binns next period, so I should do a quick review." She waved good bye then left.

Matt, Arthur and Karen were great for a laugh, but they didn't seem to take school seriously, Hermione noted. Definitely not dunderheads though. They already seemed to be the best of mates... having inside jokes and nicknames... so much that Hermione didn't want to intrude or become a fourth wheel. She went into the library, quickly finding the Ravenclaws spread out all over the place.

"Hey Nina!" Resa called over in a hushed tone. All the same, Mme Pince's eyes narrowed.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "That nick name doesn't even make sense." Resa had been trying to shorten Hermione's name, claiming it was a mouthful.

"Well Mione is too obvious and you refuse to let me call you Hermit, so I don't have too many options here," Resa reasoned.

"I swear if you call me Hermit I'll get everyone to call you Terry," Hermione warned. Resa had had shorter hair when she was younger and had been often mistaken for a guy, so any nickname that came remotely close to masculine she'd hate, just on principle.

"I think Terry is a cute name," Marius Verne said, shrugging.

"If you're going to shorten my name to Terry, Marius, be warned I'll call you Mary," she retorted.

"Fair enough," he chuckled.

Roxanne looked up from her book. "Why don't you call Hermione Harry and you dweebs can all have rhyming names," she said sarcastically, annoyed at the distraction they caused to her studying.

Resa's eyes lit up. "Ooh! Good idea Roxy-locksy!"

Roxanne's eyes narrowed. "Don't. Call. Me. That. You chuckleheads should shut up. Some of us are trying to actually do something productive with our spare time." She spat and left the Ravenclaw crowd in search for some peace and quiet.

"She's awfully touchy," Marius commented.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "She's a nightmare as a dormmate." Her eyes widened as she realized she had almost said verbatim what Ron Weasley had called _her. _"But she's really smart and caring... when she wants to be," she amended quickly.

"So where were you during the beginning of our free period? Resa and I were going to look for you..."

"But then _Marius,_" she glared at him, "decided that it would be a great time to tickle me then run away."

He shrugged. "We basically ended up playing tickle tag in the corridors," he confessed, giving Hermione puppy dog eyes.

Hermione snorted. "You guys are such great caring friends. Honestly, you guys are Gryffindors in disguise."

"I resent that!" Resa retorted sharply.

"You guys were fooling around, disrupting the peace, not giving a rat's arse about the upcoming history of magic test that we have in less than ten minutes?"

They both looked down, ashamed. "Right, yeah... forgot about that," Marius scratched the back of his neck.

"Oh shut up Marius. You already know all the dates for the wars," Resa complained. "Not everyone is a history buff, you know."

He smiled sheepishly as the bell rang. They went off to class, Resa went ahead of the Ravenclaws; she loved being the first one in class.

"Hey, um, Hermione?" Marius asked, smiling nervously.

She bit her lip. "...Yeah?"

"So listen," he addressed her, which was weird enough in and of itself. He only ever really talked to Resa and the Ravenclaw boys. "Um... well, you see... I kind of... like Resa."

She raised her eyebrows. "And?"

"No, I mean.." he shoved his hands in his pockets. "No, never mind." He walked faster.

"No, Marius, wait... what is it?"

"Well... I _like like _Resa. Like... a lot."

"Oh!" Hermione exclaimed, comprehension dawning on her face.

"...Well... um.. what do you think I should do? Do you think she likes me?" he blushed.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "I'd say so, you dunderhead."

"So... um, well.. what do you think I should do about it? Should I ask her to be my girlfriend... or...?"

"Just be nice to her. Don't be a prat like James is around Lily. I dunno, don't you share your feelings a lot?"

His eyes sparked as he perked up. "You're saying I should announce my feelings during dinner aloud to the entire great hall? Great idea, Hermione!" he grinned and sped off to walk with Resa.

"No that's not what I-" she sighed. "Never mind."

Dinner at the Great Hall seemed uneventful. Marius still hadn't made his proclamation, and it seemed he was becoming increasingly jumpy and nervous as the meal went on.

"What's Marius' problem?" Resa whispered to Hermione.

Hermione smiled. "I... he's Marius. He's just being weird."

Resa shrugged. "Yeah. I guess.."

Just as dessert was about to be started, Marius cleared his throat and climbed up onto the table. "I have an announcement to make!" he declared.

"Oh no," Hermione whispered, shrinking in her seat.

"I really like Terry aka Resa Goldberg and I'd like her to know it. And when I say I like her, I mean I _like like _her. I think it'd be really cool if she like liked me too. Terry, have anything to say?" he grinned down at her. Several of the other Ravenclaws were guffawing, others were smirking at this guy's spunk.

"Sure." She smiled and stood up on the table with him. "Only Marius can call me Terry, got it?" she warned. He laughed and they did their overly complex handshake yelling 'huzzah!' at the end of it. "I thought it was fairly obvious that we're getting married after seventh year!" she giggled.

Severus left his table and went to the doors, gesturing for Hermione to follow.

"I'm going to head over to the library with Severus," she said to no one in particular. Resa and Marius were too busy sculpting the cake in front of them, trying to make it look like Headmaster Dippet.

"Later Hermione," Linnaea called out, having an in depth conversation with Xenophilius Lovegood about the benefits of fermented socks.

Random place to cut off the chapter, but whatever.

*"Make these things super pretty with wings and rainbow,"

Side note: i just google translated this into latin... so the grammar is probably shite.. just a warning. And the spell is kind of bull shit so...

Please review! They make my day, and while obviously I'll keep updating even if I don't get any reviews, I'll be a lot more cheery about it. If you have any ideas or suggestions that would be much appreciated, as it is I already know more or less what and who is going to die in the next several chapters. I mean, what? *cackles*


	7. Chapter 7

This is going to be a horrible chapter but i'm only putting it up because i'm leaving for two weeks for a summer trip with my family and probably won't be able to update and i forgot to inform you guys of this last update

Next chapter update should be around September... 3rd? ish

Previously:

Severus left his table and went to the doors, gesturing for Hermione to follow.

"I'm going to head over to the library with Severus," she said to no one in particular. Resa and Marius were too busy sculpting the cake in front of them, trying to make it look like Headmaster Dippet.

"Later Hermione," Linnaea called out, having an in depth conversation with Xenophilius Lovegood about the benefits of fermented socks.

"Shall we?" Severus offered his arm, coming out dramatically from the shadows.

She rolled her eyes at his theatrics. "Let's," she answered, putting her arm in his.

"So what should we research first, the sky's the limit," he droned.

She laughed at his apparent lack of enthusiasm, though his eyes seemed to sparkle with excitement. He seemed a lot more relaxed... less uptight than when she'd first met him. "I think we should try and find a charm to be able to go through walls. Then we can explore the other books."

Severus frowned. "We could learn to disillusion ourselves so we could come back to the library whenever we want."

"How very Slytherin of you- I agree we should learn that, but only because it's useful for other purposes. We don't need to sneak into the library; teachers love us... we'll be allowed in without ever having the risk of getting in trouble."

Severus pouted. "Fine, but only if we use the disillusionment charm for against the rules pruposes too... and if a teacher won't allow us."

"So how was your day, today?"

He rolled his eyes. "I had Flying class with the Gryffindor gang. Potter thought it swell to impress Li- I mean, Evans, by flying around Hogwarts castle while the Professor had gone in to fetch something or other. That aside, I had to deal with the usual Potter-Black torment... so nothing out of the usual really. I had transfiguration before lunch with the Hufflepuff dunderheads. None of them could complete the spell satisfactorily! Why is everyone so incompetent?" he complained.

Hermione giggled at his apparent distress. "I had spare with the Hufflepuffs. I actually quite like a few of them, I was talking to, um... oh, what were their names again? Matt, Karen and Arthur?"

"Oh. _Them. _Those three might be worse than Potter and Black when it comes to destroying things and wreaking havoc. Gillan managed to blow up his sponge that we had to transfigure, sending orange liquid flying everywhere. He has quite the aptitude for destruction."

She shrugged. "He's really nice though. Just be glad that we don't have Potions with him."

Severus shuddered. "No. Don't make me think of that."

The approached the front desk of the library. "Um, we have passes to the Restricted section."

Mme Pince, the librarian, glared at them. "Those books better be returned to the shelves in immaculate condition," she warned severely, a permanent scowl on her pointed face.

Severus and Hermione shared a look. "I should hope so, Madame Pince," Severus said lavishly, looking slightly affronted.

Mme Pince nodded, looking more or less mollified, and gestured for them to leave her.

The headed to the back of the library and opened the wrought iron gate to the Forbidden section. They split up, Severus on the left and Hermione on the right.

"'Illusions; from notice me not to notice me lots,'" Severus sneered. "What is this amateur book doing here?"

Hermione shrugged and continued scanning the titles. Her eyes fell upon a dusty old tomb, rather unremarkable among the multitudinous dusty old tombs around... but this one had a promising title. "Advanced Transformations for Advanced Learning." Curiously, she flicked through it, reading the chapter titles. 'Opaque to Transparent,' looked useful, as well as 'Solid to Liquid'.

"Hey Sev, can you find either a drying charm or water impermeability charm?" she called over her shoulder.

"Granger, don't call me that," he said in a low voice half-heartedly. "That's a pretty tame charm, I'll go find it in the regular section. It's probably, what, second year?"

She looked up from the text. "What? Oh, uh, yeah... second year," she muttered distractedly.

He came back a few minutes later looking rather irritated. "I don't know why Black and Potter are in the library, but I would suggest avoiding them," he grimaced, wiping his hands on his robes disgustedly.

Hermione looked up to find him nearly drenched. "What did they _do _to you?!"

"I would have thought that was fairly obvious. It is fortuitous however that the second year text has both the drying charm and the text itself has been charmed to be impermeable to water. So it isn't ruined from Potter's prank," he sneered.

He sat down on the ground next to Hermione and opened the 2nd year text to the drying charm. Looking over it quickly, he cast it, getting it correct on the first try and drying himself completely, though his hair looked greasier.

He looked over her shoulder, reading the page with her. "So what's in this underground cavern anyway?"

"It's more of a chamber, really," she corrected absently.

Severus rolled his eyes. "How did you find it if it's behind a solid wall?"

"A troll decided it'd be a good thing to destroy..." Hermione said casually, still reading the book intently.

"Oh, of course. _Trolls. _How obvious," he sneered. "So, tell me about the spells."

Hermione looked up from her book. "Right, so the spells are... difficult. Well, not really, just rather redundant and tedious. It should take some practice... I doubt we'll be able to perform it by Saturday."

"Is there any... easier way in?"

"Unless you're the newfound Heir of Slytherin, I doubt it," Hermione said curtly.

"Y-you," he paused and took a moment to contain himself. "You found the Chamber of Secrets?" he asked neutrally a few seconds later.

"Er... I guess? It's an underground chamber with a load of snake statues everywhere... looks a bit like that scene from the Wizard of Oz..."

"And you haven't told anyone about it?" he hissed, ignoring her muggle reference.

"Who's there to tell? How would I be able to tell someone that I found a secret chamber in the depths of Hogwarts because a troll decided to crush a wall in a convenient location? No one else knows my circumstances other than you, Headmaster Dippet, and Dumbledore. Besides, I doubt Resa or Remus would care... and I probably shouldn't tell Dumbledore anyway," she reasoned. "What's so grand about the Chamber of Secrets? I mean, yeah, it's huge and magical, but I figured that there'd be tons of secret places similar to it in Hogwarts."

"Only you would idsregard potentially the most secret legendary part of Hogwarts. Hermione, this is greater than the lost diadem of Ravenclaw being found!" he shook her excitedly.

"Well is there anything in the folklore about how to open it?"

"It was created by Salazar Slytherin, one of the four founders of Hogwarts. It's said to hold a monster within, and only the Heir of Slytherin can open the chamber and control the monster. Twenty or so years ago, it was opened, and the third year responsible for it... well, their wand was snapped."

"Oh, that's horrible!" Hermione exclaimed, putting a hand protectively over her wand. She shuddered to think how awful in would be for soemoen's access to their own magic be taken away from them brutally.

"Hermione, the beast that was released killed a _student_."

She blushed. "Still, to have you magic taken away like that..." she should her head.

Severus raised an eyebrow. "I'm certain that almost every Slytherin couldn't survive without magic. Purebloods truly are oblivious to the muggle conveniences..."

"It's ridiculous that they only learn about Muggles through the school system after 3rd year," Hermione agreed.

"Hm..." Severus' eyes narrowed. "Well now I'm sure that you're not a Pureblood."

Hermione shrugged. "I would have assumed that that would be fairly obvious."

Severus grimaced. "Pass that text here. We might be able to simplify the spell..."

She shrugged again and handed him the book. While she knew that both Severus and her were gifted learners, she doubted that they'd be able to perform such a complex spell after only having a wand for less than four months.

Severus frowned. "That book is ancient. There's no way any spell has to be chanted four times while skipping backwards and be mixed with three potions. It's all so obscure and seemingly inane... perhaps we could see if there's an updated book that's simpler? Or we could try our luck at wandless wordless incantations. They're supposedly easier when you're younger."

Hermione nodded. "Might as well find a book on that-"

"The library is closing early due to Headmaster Dippet's request," Mme Pince announced, her severe voice echoing through the room. "Student are to be out of the library in five minutes."

"Okay, let's grab anything and everything interesting right now and take the covers off of our school books and put them on the restricted books so we can sneak them out," Severus said quickly.

"But-"

"We'll argue semantics tomorrow."

"Semantics isn't even-"

"Hermione," he grabbed her wrists. "This is our one chance to be in this section. Teachers won't let us in because people will become overly cautious due to the attack. Everything will be more secure; we won't be able to sneak in here, ever. We won't get caught because we're not using magic." He looked into her eyes, trying to convince her.

Hermione was warring with herself. Knowledge or rules? There was so much she could learn, just by grabbing a couple books. And it wasn't like anyone would suspect her to go against the rules... no one would ever check her and if she _did _get caught she could say she was framed. Hermione ran through this train of thought in less than two seconds then nodded quickly to Severus. "You're corrupting me, I swear," she grinned.

A corner of his mouth curled upwards. "Perfect."

They each grabbed four books; old tombs that hadn't been opened in decades with elaborate decorations carved in the spine and fascinating titles. Hermione got three history books and one that was about illusions and disguises; while Severus got two on the dark arts and two on occlumency and ligilimency. They dashed back to the front of the library, flushed cheeks and out of breath.

Mme Pince's eyes narrowed at them; they seemed much too... happy to be in the library. The elder frowned at them, assuming they had been defacing books or... worse, folding the pages. Mme Pince shuddered at the thought and twitched her head sharply to the door. "Scat."

"Thank you for maintaining the library. IT's very well organized!" Hermione called out as she left.

"Sh!" was all Mme Pince had to say and grumbled about ne'er-do-wells and dirty handed kids.

Hermione went up Ravenclaw tower with the rest of the Ravenclaws that had been reseraching in regards to centaurs and their natural predators.

The bird shaped knocker's beak opened to say the riddle.

"What can be a dress, a bath or a school but still be called the same thing?"

This stymied the older Ravenclaws who were much more used to the poem style of riddle.

"Well... um, that would be a robe... wouldn't it? Because, well, dress robes, bathrobes and school robes?" Hermione asked.

"That is correct, welcome in," the bird nodded and opened the door. Several Ravenclaws nodded or smiled in appreciation in her direction, an older one even high fived her. Griffin, she thought his name was. Ironic name for a Ravenclaw.

Marius and Resa were in the corner, playing exploding snaps or whatever the game was called. Linnaea was spread out by the fire, reading a book, and Roxanne was throwing darts with a couple of the older Ravenclaws boys. Looked like she was winning, from her smug smile and the boys' downcast expressions.

Hermione seized the opportunity of alone time in the dorm to read her illicit books. She bopped Resa on the back of the head and smiled at her innocently when Resa jumped and turned around.

"So much for your Grandmother being a Seer," Marius chuckled.

"Hey! I resent that!" she hit his should which he proceeded to rub and pretend to cry a little bit. "So what do ya want Piney?" she asked brightly.

Hermione frowned. "Piney?"

"Rhymes with Mione. Better than whiny or shiny..."

"Or hiney!" Marius snickered.

"Shut up, Mary and Terry."

Marius and Theresa instantly stopped laughing.

"Just wanted to let you know that I'll be up in our dorm and would appreciate some quiet time."

Resa shrugged. "Sure thing, Hermy."

"I promise I won't let Terry bug you, Gerry," Marius said dutifully.

Resa slapped him lightly. "Just because I let you call me Terry doesn't mean I enjoy it."

Hermione frowned. "Where did Gerry come from?"

"Granger. Gerry. I'll admit it's a bit of a stretch." He shrugged. "Ah well. I tried, and therefore no one should criticize me. Now go up to your dorm Herm-one-ion-minnie and I'll keep Terry at bay."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Kay," she left the two of them, wondering if Resa was right and that they were going to marry each other in several years time. It didn't seem all that unlikely.

This is like my shortest chapter yet, but that's because I literally haven't written anymore, because what I do is that I write down by hand the story, then I type it up, so there's less mistakes in general. But yeah, so I'll update on September 3rd or sooner! Please review!


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Now this chapter will not be of the highest quality as i've been sick and just kind of rushed this... and seeing as i've tried to build up to this chapter, it might be a bit of a disappointment. Anyway, i've had great reviews and follows/favourites... keep it up!

Previously:

"I promise I won't let Terry bug you, Gerry," Marius said dutifully.

Resa slapped him lightly. "Just because I let you call me Terry doesn't mean I enjoy it."

Hermione frowned. "Where did Gerry come from?"

"Granger. Gerry. I'll admit it's a bit of a stretch." He shrugged. "Ah well. I tried, and therefore no one should criticize me. Now go up to your dorm Herm-one-ion-minnie and I'll keep Terry at bay."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Kay," she left the two of them, wondering if Resa was right and that they were going to marry each other in several years time. It didn't seem all that unlikely.

Severus went quickly up to his dorms, not bothering to chat with anyone. He growled at Lucius who was about to approach him then shut his dorm door in his blond haired friend's face. Sometimes there were perks to being in Slytherin. No one ever questioned your suspicious passtimes... in fact it was quite the opposite. You'd be suspicious if you _weren't _doing anything suspicious. They also assumed that you had an ulterior motive if you were ever doing anything shunned upon... like befriending a Gryffindor, or worse... a _Hufflepuff._ Another plus side was that Slytherins respected closed doors and never burst into rooms unannounced unlike Gryffindors who acted all too comfortable.

Severus sat on his bed, sliding the curtains around it and prized out his forbidden texts. He could have gotten a dark arts text anywhere; they were lying all over the place in the Slytherin common room under various magical guises. It was fairly obvious though, at least to someone observant. There was no way that the students were reading divination texts with that much concentration and smirks on their faces...

What truly appealed to Severus was the Occlumency and Ligilimency. He figured that he'd have to rope Hermione into joining his newest interest; it was easier to test your knowledge if you had an opponent. There weren't too many people who could delve into a person's mind; nonetheless, Severus knew that it would pay off. He'd be able to sever his practical, logical mind from his emotions, hide exactly what he was thing; in short, he'd become the perfect Slytherin.

The Occlumency book stated that the user must organize their mind; one had to start at the earliest memory then separate the emotions felt from the event itself, putting each in different categories in one's mind. This was so one's mind could be searched without ever revealing one's true emotions. After completing this, the user should hide the memories using a literal analogy such as an ocean, or a forest or a brick wall. Whatever was easiest to imagine.

This step was by far the hardest. It'd be simple to make a figurative brick wall in one's mind, but for it to be permanent and effective was another thing altogether.

Severus frowned and thought of the perfect mindscape. A wall was too easy to penetrate; an ocean didn't suit him; he didn't know enough about forests...

At the end of the chapter, the book suggested that the user should consult someone who knew them intimately about what their mindscape should be; second opinions were always useful. The book also said that working in pairs was always easier as one could use ligilimency while the other used occlumency.

Severus closed the book; it was getting late and his dorm mates were sure to be cross if he refused to let them in for the rest of the night. He put the covers on the books and put them on the shelf above his bed. His Slytherin roommates Rabastan Lestrange, Francis Lapinette and Lucius Malfoy all knew better than to much around with his things. Francis had tried at the beginning of the year to go through Severus' things, but he hadn't known that the lock was covered in a biotic corrosive potion... meaning he was literally caught red-handed... his burn took a month to heal over completely.

With a sigh Severus opened the dorm door and went out into the Common room, lurking in one corner and observing his House mates.

Hermione sat down on the floor of her dorm room, leaning against the bed frame. She cautiously opened the Illusions and Disillusions book, careful not to crack the spine or rip a page. The book had been handled roughly in its long life; recovery spells could only do so much before a book as old as this one would fall apart.

She had chosen this book first so that she could hide her collection of illegal books without any curious Ravenclaw grabbing it.

Hermione sighed. She rather missed Gryffindor house. There, you could leave a precious book on a table for all to see and no one would touch it because they'd be preoccupied with gossiping or playing or fooling around... being in Ravenclaw, where nearly everyone had a thirst for knowledge, a book would be snapped up the minute you left it alone.

The book had over two hundred charms, starting with the beginner charms until it reached Masters level. There was no wonder why it was so heavy; it was magically reduced on the outside so it appeared smaller, but it sure was bigger on the inside.

Curiously, Hermione flipped to the Exterior Reduction chapter and started reading it. She thought of potential applications for the spell... her book bag could be smaller so that when she walked in the corridor it wouldn't hit people... she wondered if there was an Undetectable Extension charm as well. She could find plenty of practical applications for that. Her dorm room could be larger, her bookshelf could be infinite...

Hermione figured she'd have to learn the Feather Light charm which Professor Flitwick had said would be learned after the winter holidays. Speaking of which, they were fast approaching... the list for who'd be staying at Hogwarts over the break would be posted the next day. Severus hadn't really spoken much of his past, but Hermione thought that he'd be staying at Hogwarts over the break. There was no way that Hermione would be able to go home... she suddenly became sad.

This would be her first Christmas away from her mum and dad. Her dad would never cook her pancakes for Christmas morning. Her mum would never slave over a hot oven wearing her ridiculous snowman apron ever again. All of her family traditions were gone... just like that.

With a pang in her chest, Hermione thought of her parents celebrating Christmas alone, grieving over their missing daughter. Maybe they'd set a place at the table for her, only become aware that she was gone. They'd have a quiet dinner, every so often glancing at the empty chair at the empty table. Maybe they'd be out shopping and they'd see a book she might enjoy, and would hold it in the checkout line only to realize that she wouldn't be home for Christmas.

Hermione shook her head, disgusted at how rashly and selfish she had acted when she had pressed that button the one-way time turner.

She wondered for a moment how her holidays would be at Hogwarts. She'd probably talk to Headmaster Dippet and Dumbledore. Maybe she'd have tea with Slughorn. Yeah, he'd probably invite the smartest students who didn't have good families to go home to... maybe she'd talk to Flitwick about alternative opaque to transparent charms and solid to liquid charms. That was a good idea.

There was a knock at the door that startled Hermione. Flummoxed, she checked the time and realized that she had just spent over an hour reading a chapter of a book and thinking about her parents. She wiped her tears from her face, embarrassed, and called out, "Come in!" in a fake cheery voice.

Linnaea opened the door hesitantly. "Uh, hey Hermione. Sorry, um.. just, I was tired... I can sleep over somewhere else if you like.."

Hermione sniffled and smiled as though everything was okay. "No, no, it's fine. I'm fine, you don't need to leave or anything."

Linnaea looked around awkwardly. She held out her book unnecessarily. "Okay, well, um... I'm just gonna read for a little bit. Just, um... if you would like to talk to me... I know I'm not Resa or anything..." she fingered her opal necklace.

Hermione smiled back at her. "No, I'm fine. But would you like to talk, though? Um... where'd you get that necklace? It's really pretty."

"Thanks," Linnaea's face fell. "Um... my mum... it was hers." She smiled sadly, still fingering it. "Her mother... it was passed on to my mum when her mum... yeah."

"Oh. I'm so sorry." Hermione said honestly. "I know how you feel. Both my parents are gone."

Linnaea nodded and looked down. "Um, Roxanne is sleeping over with... I actually don't know. And Marius and Resa snuck out to 'go on an adventure' so..."

"Er, thanks," Hermione muttered as Linnaea hid in her books. She shut her books and put them in her trunk, hoping that her dorm mates would snoop around her stuff.

Hermione woke up rather late in the morning, which was strange in itself, because she'd gotten used to Resa's loud wake up whistling. Rubbing her eyes, she realized she and Marius were probably already awake in the Common Room or library… or they even could have snuck outside for an impromptu snowball fight.

Shrugging, Hermione went to the Great Hall, still clad in her blue and bronze plaid pajamas that she had found in her trunk.

After breakfast, she and Severus strolled down abandoned corridors, hand in hand, holding their illicit books. Hermione wasn't sure if she liked having her hand held. Well, obviously it was nice… but did it have any connotations or was it merely friends being… friendly?

Hermione realized she didn't really care. Professor Snape may have been a right git towards her, but Severus was… well… nice. At least, nice by his standards.

"A sickle for your thoughts?" he asked after she hadn't said anything for a few minutes. It was odd behaviour for her, really, seeing as she had a habit of pestering him with questions.

"Mm? Oh.. just… was thinking about how different the future is…"

They found themselves standing in the same place as when Hermione had popped into existence weeks ago. Severus sat up on the window ledge and she joined him. "So how's your... new reading material?"

Hermione's face split out into a grin. "It's fantastic."

Severus raised an eyebrow. "Really? I do say, I find my own reading material to be quite scintillating. Occlumency and Ligilimency are easier to learn in pairs; I was curious if you'd be interested in joining me on this educational venture."

She shrugged. "Sure. Why not... you should see the charms I've seen though," her eyes sparkled in excitement. "There are so many possibilities!"

He rolled his eyes. "I'm sure."

"So are you staying here for the winter holidays?"

"Well if you were truly interested in Ligilimency you'd be able to know the answer for yourself." He retorted.

Hermione groaned. "Oh, not _another _way for you to be dramatically sly with your responses."

"Are _you _staying here for the winter holidays?"

"Yep. And it'd be a lot more pleasant if you were here with me," she smiled at him.

Severus snorted. "Hogwarts seems a lot more appealing all of a sudden. Then again, anything is more appealing to me than spending a few weeks with my... parents," he spat out. "Actually," he gave her a calculating look, "perhaps three weeks full of torture in a dark cave with Sirius Black cackling in the background would be worse than a few weeks with my parents."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Surely it's not as bad as that. I wish I could go home for the holidays.." she smiled wistfully.

He nodded shortly, not wanting her to become emotional. He wasn't the most... comforting of people. "Well I'm sure that Lupin or Goldberg wouldn't mind you staying with them."

"True," she nodded. "However, I've only known them for a few weeks. I don't want to impose on their families," she frowned. "Besides, I think that Marius and Resa are spending their holidays together. I hear he has a mansion and owns a lake and a mountain range over in Switzerland. He's a Gryffindor, really... so open and friendly..."

"And loud," Severus added.

"**Attention all students. Your presence is required in the Great Hall immediately." **Headmaster Dippet's voice rang through the corridors.

Severus crossed his arms. "I hate Sonorus. It's unnecessary, obnoxious and conspicuous."

Hermione gave a huff. "Come on you grumpy git," she said, climbing down from the window sill. "I hope he's not about to announce that Quidditch is back on."

"Yes those flying dunderheads don't need more opportunities to have permanent brain damage," he smirked.

The professors at the Head Table weren't talking. That was the first thing Hermione noticed. The bewitched ceiling showed a dark stormy sky and the usually bright cheery colours were faded and dark. The students were talking among themselves in hushed tones; even the rowdiest of Gryffindors could sense the serious setting.

With a heavy pit in her stomach, Hermione sat down among the seventh graders, feeling a sick sense of foreboding. Students kept trickling in through the entrance; as soon as they came in their smiles were wiped off their faces and their laughter died. It was as though the castle itself could feel the tension in the air, dimming the candles.

"Attention," the |Headmaster called out. The few people murmuring to each other immediately ceased. A hush fell over the student body. "A beloved student has been found dead on the school grounds," he announced.


	9. Chapter 9

Okay, so y'all need to review, because i've had a ton of follows and favourites, but i have no idea what you're responding to. Is it snape, is it hermione, is it my writing style, or fuzzy little remus or... like, i'm at a loss, but i really need some feedback because it gets more intimidating as i keep writing because i DONT KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. So i'm doing what i want and just. Please. Review.

Also, i just started grade 11 in high school, and i've come to terms with the fact i will have less time to update, so assume each update will be between one to two weeks of hiatus... so yeah.

Previously:

The professors at the Head Table weren't talking. That was the first thing Hermione noticed. The bewitched ceiling showed a dark stormy sky and the usually bright cheery colours were faded and dark. The students were talking among themselves in hushed tones; even the rowdiest of Gryffindors could sense the serious setting.

With a heavy pit in her stomach, Hermione sat down among the seventh graders, feeling a sick sense of foreboding. Students kept trickling in through the entrance; as soon as they came in their smiles were wiped off their faces and their laughter died. It was as though the castle itself could feel the tension in the air, dimming the candles.

"Attention," the |Headmaster called out. The few people murmuring to each other immediately ceased. A hush fell over the student body. "A beloved student has been found dead on the school grounds," he announced.

Hermione's eyes widened. _I hope it's no one I know... or Lucius Malfoy, _she thought, then felt guilty about wishing ill fate on others.

"Another student is in the infirmary and is being treated as we speak for serious injuries."

The student body held their breath, waiting for him to continue.

"The creature that attacked these two students is as of now still unidentified, but rest assured that all of you are safe in the castle. These students were found outside, disobeying our rules that we had set in place to avoid a situation such as this. We'll be getting aurors to guard our school for the next little while. The funeral for the student will be held after the winter holidays by the lake for anyone who wishes to attend. There will, of course, be aurors and professors on guard during the funeral. That is all." He sat down, much to the dismay of the students.

The students broke out into a whisper, and Hermione looked over at the Head table expectantly. Professor Dumbledore leaned over and whispered to Headmaster Dippet who nodded seriously and stood up once more. The students fell silent again. "It seems I have forgotten to name the students that were involved in this unfortunate attack. Marius Verne," he paused.

Hermione held her breath, a sick feeling in her stomach. She thought of the rowdy smiling Ravenclaw with unease. "... has been injured." Hermione blew out all the stale air in her lungs, relaxing slightly.

"Theresa Goldberg has passed on," he continued. "And she will live on in our memories and in our hearts," he finished, sitting back down.

Hermione looked around the Ravenclaw table, watching everyone react. What the Headmaster said still hadn't quite hit Hermione; she was too occupied with analyzing the grooves and patterns in the wooden table in front of her. Her general train of thought was, _ no no no no no no no no no no no no no no._

Students began to leave the Great Hall, murmuring quietly amongst themselves. First the Slytherins left, then a bunch of Gryffindors and Hufflepuffs. Various hands squeezed her shoulder or patted her on the back, offering condolences. She paid them no mind, becoming particularly fascinated with a specific knot in the wood.

Linnaea came beside her and hugged her tightly, streams of tears going down her face. "Resa," he whispered brokenly, sniffing and wiping her eyes with her sleeve. "It was my fault, y'know? I knew she was going on 'an adventure' with Marius!" she sobbed. Another older Ravenclaw, looking to be her sister, gently brought Linnaea away from Hermione.

Remus also sat beside her, but she didn't hear anything he said.

Finally, after an immeasurable period of time, Severus shook her out of her mindless activities. "Hermione. Let's go back to the corridor. You don't want to bring attention to yourself by staying here all alone." He said this uncharacteristically gently, without a hint of sarcasm.

She looked up at him with wide teary eyes, standing up and letting him lead her away from the Ravenclaw table.

He picked up the book she had been reading and they returned to their secluded corridor. "Hermione?" Severus queried, trying to look into her eyes. He was worried, she wasn't responding at all.

She sniffed quietly and looked up, holding back the tears. Her throat felt like it was closing and her hands were shaking. She'd never lost someone. Sure, she was... disconnected from her parents... but it just didn't seem as real as losing a dorm mate.

He looked at her directly, trying not to show how uncomfortable he felt with her. He frowned and steeled himself against the tears he was sure were about to appear.

Hermione swallowed back her tears. Resa never deserved this. She was innocent, so pure and light; she seemed ethereal... She could have done something. She should have been waiting for Resa to return to bed. If Hermione hadn't gotten any of those awful forbidden books, none of this would have ever happened. Because of instead of essentially locking Resa out, she would have probably read a book in the corner of the common room and discouraged Resa and Marius from leaving Ravenclaw tower after hours... it was those dreaded books that were at fault though, Hermione fumed. If Severus had never suggested it, this whole accident never would have happened!

Severus' eyes grew wide in alarm as Hermione's saddened expression quickly turned into rage.

"You!" she shrieked. "You did this! You said that we should take those god awful books and I could have stopped them from and you Slytherins are all the same uncaring and one of you probably killed Resa and I could have stopped this whole thing but you started it all and this would never have happened and all you dark Slytherins and the Dark Lord should all just leave me alone!" she cried hysterically, tears streaming down her face.

Severus frowned, baffled at the sudden onslaught of emotion and incoherent thoughts. "Her-"

"No! Leave me alone Snape! I _hate _you!" she spat out and hurried away, not allowing him to get a word in edgewise.

Hermione found herself sitting in a hidden nook in the library that Remus had showed her. She was numbly staring at the bookshelves that surrounded her. She had tried escaping her sorrow by distracting herself with books... but books would remind her of Ravenclaw which obviously led her to Resa... Hermione had cried herself out. There weren't any tears left. She was mulling over the fact of how incompetent she was, and that's why she was unloved and anyone she became attached to was obviously flawed. It wasn't even that she could change those fundamental parts of herself. It was just her personality, something driven in her from a young age.

She heard footsteps approach her and wiped her face, on the off chance that it was a concerned teacher. A floppy haired boy stepped out.

"I figured you might be here," Remus said kindly. He was wearing pajamas again... not that that was uncommon. Remus had a strict policy in which if robes and uniforms weren't of the utmost importance to be worn, he'd be in pajamas.

"Where else would an ugly know-it-all bookworm be?" she bit back.

He raised his eyebrows and blew out a breath of air. "Well then." He sat beside her on the carpeted floor, scratching the back of his neck. "Um, actually I looked in the Infirmary, then I checked with one of the Ravenclaw boys to see if you were in the tower. If you weren't here, I was going to look for you outside, to see if you were suicidal... then I figured I'd check with Snape." He said calmly.

"... yeah..."

"Right.." Remus nodded. "Want to talk about it? Or we could not. We could just go to the Gryffindor Common Room and have some tea. Or if you like, I could just sit here beside you and read a Quidditch book."

Hermione shrugged wordlessly.

Sighing, he grabbed a random book off the shelf and began to read. Unfortunately for him, it wasn't the least bit interesting; it was the autobiography of the witch who'd created the cross-stitch, a sewing pattern supposedly designed for fixing robes.

A few minutes passed and Hermione leaned against him. He wrapped an arm around her, thinking about when he had gone through his first transformation and afterwards his dad had hugged him tightly and stroked his hair comfortingly. He couldn't imagine losing a best friend; he didn't even have one to lose. Sirius had James, James had Sirius, and Remus wasn't all too fond of Peter. Not that Peter was unlikeable, but Remus didn't really want him as a close friend... much too jumpy and well... awkward to be around.

"I have a lot of shoes," Remus said out of the blue. "I have a drawer under my bed, and there's a ton of shoes in it. I don't even know why; I only wear one pair of shoes anyway, unless my mum forces me to wear fancy shoes for special occasions. But anyway, there's this collection of shoes beneath my bed. There's another drawer under my bed filled with ticket stubs from films and concerts. My mum is a big fan of going to the opera, or seeing an opera singer live, and my dad loves bringing me to see movies, even if I fall asleep through half of them or load myself with popcorn. The thing is, I like to keep all my stuff really organized and I can't let anything go. Then I ended up going to Hogwarts and sharing a room with Peter, Sirius and James. Obviously now my stuff is always pilfered through and I can never have a special thing in my life without it getting wrecked, you know? But I finally figured out how to fix it. I just stopped caring. My shirts are on the wrong side of the dorm, I don't care. Sirius splashes a bucket of water in my face, I don't care. I've learned that other things are just more important, and sure I'd love to throttle Sirius on a daily basis.. or I could have fun and let him do as he does as long as I still can do what I do."

Hermione sniffed. "You could just put a Repulsion charm on your stuff, Remus."

He laughed. "No point. They'd just find another way. Besides, I'd go insane if I cared about looking perfect and knowing exactly where everything is. In the end, it doesn't really even matter." He shrugged.

"You are seriously the most relaxed person I've ever met."

He shrugged. "Want some tea and quality time in the lion's den?"

"Nah," she smiled, "Won't it be rowdy in there anyway?"

"Nope. A lot of the Gryffindors know to be quiet when I'm in the Common Room because I had this spurt of accidental magic a while ago..."

"Yeah?"

"I... erm, well, I was reading this really good book, see?" he said sheepishly. "And, um... everyone was really annoying, I think it'd been a quidditch match or something, but I kinda... well... taped all their mouths shut."

Hermione burst out laughing. "That is the best reaction ever! When was this?"

"Oh, sometime late September..." he said, scratching his arm absently.

"I miss Resa."

"I know," he hugged her tightly, getting a face full of brown bushy hair.

"What time is it?"

"Past dinner. Nearly curfew."

"I don't want to go up to my dorm," she said childishly, burrowing her face into his chest. "What if her stuff is still there? What if it isn't?"

He didn't really have anything to say to that so decided to stroke her hair soothingly.

"And I'll have to see Linnaea and hear her crying all night and Roxanne might either get emotional or stay stoic..."

Remus nodded. "Why don't I go find a Ravenclaw prefect and tell them that you'll stay in the Gryffindor common roof for the night? Where you won't have any reminders."

"Okay," she said in a small voice.

"I'll be back soon, okay?"

"Okay."

Remus went out into the corridor, trying to spot the first Ravenclaw he could find. "Hey! Griffin!" he called out.

The sixth year turned around. "Uh... yes?"

"Hello. Er, well, I'm Remus. I'm one of Hermione Granger's friends?"

"Right," Griffin nodded. "Does she need anything?"

Remus nodded quickly. "Actually, yeah. She doesn't... she... well, I think it's best if she sleeps in the Gryffindor common room for the night just so there's no sad reminders of Resa."

Griffin frowned, but nodded. "I'm sure that should be okay. Technically against the rules, and Ravenclaws are quite fond of technicalities...but I'll convince our prefects, don't worry. Everyone will be okay with it, I'm sure. Especially since it's for Hermione. She's brilliant."

"Yeah, she is. Well... thanks a lot Griffin! Hey, don't you have four brothers in Gryffindor?"

The Ravenclaw sighed. "Five, actually. Linus, Godric, Leo, Mane, and Geoffrey."

Remus frowned. "Parents were Gryffindors too?"

"Yeah. And I have two younger twin sisters named Kitty and Lea. They're both destined to be Gryffindors, too."

"Guess that's a little awkward for you, then... being Ravenclaw and all."

"You have no idea," he replied, aggrieved.

"Huh. Okay, then. See you around."

Griffin smiled, staring Remus straight in the eye. "Take care of her, okay."

"Got it."

Griffin immediately lightened up. "Good. Well, I'm here with my brothers over the holidays if she needs anything."

The next morning Hermione woke up early... then realized it wasn't because of Resa. The noise that had woken her up seemed to have been a fluffy cat that had pounced on her. With a pang, she thought of Crookshanks, but this cat certainly wasn't half Kneazle.

Remus was asleep on the floor beside her couch, curled up and snuffling. The cat jumped onto Remus who yelped and woke up, hitting the cat that dashed away to safety.

"G'mornin'," he groaned, rolled over and sitting up.

His honey brown hair was sticking up rather comically to which Hermione giggled.

"Shut up," he frowned, patting his hair down grumpily. "What time 's'it?" he mumbled groggily. "'S it breakfast yet?"

"Don't think so."

"S'okay. James found the kitchens yesterday. Wanna go?"

Hermione shrugged. "Might as well." With a start, she realized that this qualified as her first sleepover. "Wait... Remus?"

"Yeah?"

"Just... thanks."

"For what?"

"Well.. just, you know... being there."

Remus smiled ruefully. "Hey, I'm always gonna be here for you."

Hermione looked away. There was no way he could uphold that promise; he'd get distracted and fool around with James and Sirius and forget all about her, she was sure of it. "Thanks."

Remus seemed cross. "You don't believe me. Geez Hermione, I was sorted into Gryffindor for a reason, cos I'm certainly not brave. Do I look like a Gryff' to you? I'm shy, would rather read than pull pranks... hell, I'm the bloody _posterboy _for Ravenclaw. So, I guess if I'm not brave I must be bloody loyal. D'you really think I'd abandon you?"

She smiled gratefully. "I'm lucky to have a friend like you.." she suddenly realized that she'd completely forgotten about Resa. Immediately her face fell as she became aware of the fact that she was a horrible friend. Why was she smiling if her best friend was dead?!

"Hey. Hermione." He looked worried. "Do you want to talk about it now?"

"It's just," she sniffed, "I'm being so _horrible _right now. Resa's _dead,_" she sobbed.

Remus listened attentively, knowing not to interrupt. He had plenty of experience with crying women; his mum was a very emotional person and his dad was a nurse and always knew just what to do. Whether it was tea, a shoulder to cry on or comforting works, his dad would always know.

"I'm never gonna be woken by her in the morning. She's never gonna talk a mile a minute in my ear whenever she's excited. She won't skip ahead of us down the corridor so that she'll be the first one in class. She won't keep trying to make me a horrendous nickname... and she'll never be overly defensive about Marius calling her Terry," her entire body shook as tears poured down her face. "Oh _Merlin,_ Marius! I should've been there! I should've comforted him! Oh gods, he must be _devastated. _He must think I'm horrible!"

Remus put his hand on her shoulder. "Hermione. Breathe. Marius will be fine; you won't be able to help him until you're okay. Winter holidays are two days from now; he'll have plenty of quality time with his family. Speaking of, do you want to come to mine? My parents are lovely; they'd love to have you. Besides, Sirius and James are having their holidays together, and Peter's mother dotes on him and I could use the company. Won't you be lonely at Hogwarts?"

Hermione frowned, wiping the tears from her cheeks. "I don't think so. Severus will be here and I... no, thank you. Didn't you mention that Griffin and his brothers were staying here?"

"Yeah, they are. I'd murder for a cup of tea right about now.. and some bacon... maybe eggs and ham and orange juice and grapefruit... I'm starved, you?"

"A grapefruit sounds nice."

"Right, then. Let's go!"


	10. Christmas!

So I just got a bunch of lovely reviews, and the user bookwyrm brought up an interesting point. Now, they said:

Isn't Hermione, as a seventh year, a little too old to be acting like  
such an a$$hole? Is she really so self-centered that she is incapable of  
figuring out other people hurt too? Particularly given she was the oldest in  
her year AND older still after using the time-turner

Now, i don't mean to be rude, honestly, but the first chapter, **first freaking chapter**__i say that she's a FIRST YEAR. So yeah, she makes mistakes, she's learning who she is, and okay, maybe she's a little self-centered. So what? She's eleven! But I'm glad that you took time out of your day to send me that, and I hope that I've answered your questions adequately.

Previously: Um... Resa died and Hermione was sad and yelled at poor little |Severus and then she wept in the library where Remus found her and she slept over in the Gryffindor common room and Remus was being all kind and caring.

The Hogwarts train was leaving at nine to drop off all the students for the Winter Holidays. Hermione had returned to her dorm; Resa's bed as well as all of her belongings had disappeared, even the space where it had been was magically condensed to look as though the room had been disguised for only three people.

Both Linnaea and Roxanne were already gone, wanting to get to the train early so they'd avoid all the crowding last minute students.

Marius had also left for the train; he had stayed in the infirmary and had refused to have any visitors, but he had sent a note to Hermione explaining that he wasn't upset with her or anything, he just needed some time alone.

Severus had avoided her the past few days. Well, that wasn't necessarily true. He had been polite and cordial, speaking to her if there was a need to, but mostly just kept his distance. He didn't joke around with her or make snide comments in class. It was kind of like... well... like he'd been ignoring the fact they were friends... or at least, _had been _friends.

In all honesty though, Hermione didn't blame him. In fact, she was glad he wasn't being rude or pretending it never happened; he was giving her time to process everything. Besides, _she _was the one who told him it was all his fault and stormed away. She should be grovelling, and she would... just maybe later.

Halfway through the first week of the winter holidays, Hermione found him on his ledge, his nose stuck in a book with a look of intense concentration on his face.

He looked up as soon as she approached, a neutral expression on his face, though the corner of his mouth seemed to curl up slightly.

"Severus I'm so sorry," she blurted out.

He raised an eyebrow, a dead look in his eyes. "Yes?"

"I should never have said anything like that but I was hurt and you were doing nothing and I got angry and just I didn't want the blame and you were just there but I mean I shouldn't have said anything and I'm sorry if you don't want to talk to me anymore I get it and just I didn't want you to continue on with me thinking that I hate you because I really didn't even though you can be bloody annoying sometimes and-"

"Hermione," he said calmly.

"Yeah?" she asked, worrying her lip.

"You're such a Gryffindor."

Her face broke out into a smile. "And you're a git," she shoved him. "You really had me going there!"

"Been working on my Occlumency. Finally found what analogy best suited me so the rest was easy. I mean... I'm probably nothing compared to Dumbledore or the Dark Lord..." he paused.

"That's fascinating, Severus! Could you teach me how?"

Severus smirked. "You think you can do it? A know-it-all like you could hide everything about yourself? Please," he snorted. "You're too eager to flaunt your knowledge!"

"Shut up! It's better than pretending to be better than everyone else!"

"Hermione," he said, aghast, "I _am _better than everything and everyone else!"

She rolled her eyes. "You prat."

Christmas morning came and Hermione felt the occasion to be bittersweet. True, she had friends here; Severus and Remus were great people... but she still felt the absence of her parents.

Stretching and patting down her hair, Hermione noticed a small pile of gifts beneath her bed. Curiously, she checked the labels. Yep, they were all addressed to her. How utterly bizarre.

From Remus was a pack of apple cinnamon tea, which was surprising. She was sure she'd never mentioned her favourite tea to him. Next was a box from James and Sirius. Hermione thought it best to leave that one be. Lily had gotten her a box of chocolate frogs, with a sweet note about how she'd noticed that Hermione was brilliant at charms. Linnaea and Roxanne had both given her cards with I-O-Us, which would definitely come in handy.

Oddly enough, Griffin had bought her something, which was strange considering she'd only ever talked to him once or twice, aside from the winter holidays. Inside was a book of riddles, with a note: _For your riddle solving skills, _inside. Marius had bought her a set of earrings shaped like wands that sparked on the end.

With a grin, Hermione headed down to the Great Hall. The House tables had been squished into one, so it seemed more friendly and there wasn't anyone sitting alone. Hermione sat next to Griffin and his five brothers. Severus had mentioned that he wasn't a celebrations type guy and that he'd be in the library. They had agreed to meet there at about 10.

"Happy Christmas," she greeted Griffin and his brothers.

"Happy Christmas, Hermione," Leo, Godric, Griffin, Geoffrey, Mane and Linus greeted her simultaneously.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Gosh your mum must find you boys annoying."

Leo and Mane rolled their eyes. "Yeah," Leo said. Or was it Mane? They were identical twins that loved to confuse everyone with their identity.

"But it's-" a twin began.

"A lot of fun-" a twin replied.

"To irritate her," Griffin finished, grinning cheekily.

"Griff' do you need to prove to us that you're a Ravenclaw? Good Godric, you and your fancy words!" Linus complained.

Godric smirked. "Oh, so I'm 'good' now? Leo, Mane, you should tell mum!"

Griffin sighed, exasperated. "Merlin, 'Ric, you're worse than Sirius Black with name puns!"

"Well I'm obviously better and have more years behind me than that little firstie," Godric preened.

"So what'd you-"

"Get for Christmas, Hermione?" the twins asked.

"Hold on, can I just get you all straight in my head? So, Linus, you're a seventh year, Griffin you're a sixth year, Godric's fourth, Leo and Mane are second years, and Geoffrey, you're a first year?"

A chorus of 'yeahs,' echoed around the table with Griffin replying 'Indeed that is correct,' just to be different. From as far as she could tell, Linus liked to complain and belittle others, Leo and Mane were cheeky prats, Godric was full of himself, and Geoffrey was quiet but was loud whenever he was the topic of conversation.

"Um, I got some earrings, chocolate, tea, a book of riddles... but see here, I got this mysterious present and I thought it'd be fun if Leo and Mane opened it with me."

"Who's it-"

"From?" the twins asked.

"I'll tell you later," Hermione replied. "C'mon, let's open it up!" She took out the box that Sirius and James had given her and placed it on the table where Leo and Mane viciously attacked it, ripping the slapdash wrapping paper. Hermione took the precautionary measure of scooching and leaning away, which Griffin mimicked.

With a loud bang, the twins' faces were covered in soot and they had grown very bushy eyebrows. Their normally black hair had turned neon red and gold, and a small sign stuck out of the box. 'Dear Hermynee, Gryffindors have more fun. Though you'd enjoy the experience for a week. Love, James and Sirius.'

As if on cue, the twins groaned. "Hermy, you should-"

"Have mentioned that it was-"

"James Potter and Sirius Black."

"Those two are evil!" the twins complained, but laughed good naturedly.

"Okay, well I'm going to head over to the library and meet up with Severus," Hermione replied, giggling slightly.

"Gonna be there for our annual epic snow ball fight? Don't worry, Dumbledore's cool with it," Griffin said, giving her his best puppy dog eyes and pouting slightly.

"Um... okay... fine. Outside the library around three?"

"Sounds good," the twins said together.

Hermione couldn't _believe _her luck!

She'd told Severus she'd meet him at ten, and she'd been stuck here for over an hour now, making it past ten thirty. With a sigh, Hermione glared at the object dangling above her.

"Stupid mistletoe," she grumbled, sitting down. It had been charmed so that whoever was under it couldn't move until someone else kissed them. And you couldn't use your wand against it either. Unfortunately, that left her stranded in the middle of the hallway for the unforeseeable future, at least until Severus decided to look for her. She couldn't even open her bookbag to read one of her charms books; apparently the mistletoe deemed her bookbag to be prohibited due to its featherweight charm.

"Hermione?" Severus called from down the hall.

"Yeah," she grumbled, huffing and folding her arms. He weaved through the corridor, looking up and avoiding the various mistletoes handing and stood a few feet from her.

"So..." he drawled, a mischievous gleam in his eye.

"Oh, shut up, I'm been stuck here for so long. Just kiss me," she huffed, frustrated.

He raised an eyebrow. "And owe you a favour? No. What's in it for me?"

By now Hermione was fed up of being in this particular corridor. She had gone to the point where she had counted and recounted all of the stones in the wall. 6000, if you really want to know. "My Christmas present to you, my company and a kiss," she snapped.

"Fair enough," he shrugged.

Shyly, he approached her, his Slytherin mask coming down to reveal an inexperienced little eleven year old boy. Cautiously, he put his hands on her shoulders, tucking a mound of her hair behind her ear. He turned his head slightly, and she could feel a small tremor go through him.

Suddenly, he covered the distance and his lips met hers for such a brief moment that she wasn't even aware it was happening until it was over. Hermione held her breath for a moment, looking into Severus' eyes. He was completely open right now, and he seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack. His lips were pressed firmly together and there was a slight crease between his brows.

Hermione coughed and blushed, feeling awkward. She adjusted her bookbag and stepped out of the mistletoes' reach. "Um... thank you..." she said, biting her lip and fidgeting with her pajama pants.

"Indeed..."

"So... er... library?"

Severus' lips twitched, and just like that, everything was back to normal.

"So how horrid was breakfast with those... Gryffindors?" he asked conversationally, strolling along.

"Loud. Constant chatter," she grinned. "It was actually quite refreshing compared to the... Ravenclaws. They're awfully reserved. But I was invited to a snowball fight... so I'm stuck with those boys for the afternoon," she sighed.

"You're such a Gryffindor. You could have just said no."

"Yeah... but Griffin is such a nice person and he asked so casually... but it was easy to tell it meant a lot to him. He gets frustrated easily surrounded by his brothers. He was practically _begging._"

"Hm," his eyes narrowed.

"So how's the Occlumency going?" she asked brightly, oblivious to his foul mood.

"Well, I'd like to think. I think it'd be good if it could be _tested _though, by a Ligilimens."

"I could do that," Hermione offered.

Severus looked her over skeptically. "You _are _obnoxious, intrusive, relentless and curious..."

"Hey!" she shoved his should roughly.

"Sh!" Mme Pince said, despite the fact that Severus and Hermione were the only students boring enough to be in the library on Christmas day.

"I think you'd be an adequate Ligilimens. Possibly even decent."

Hermione grinned as they sat down, opening her book bag and taking Severus' gift out. "Happy Christmas, Severus," she stuck out his present, biting her lip anxiously. She had knitted his socks and had written down a spell. The spell was probably the more appreciated of the two; she had found it in the textbook she got from the forbidden section.

The Signature Spell; it mimicked the handwriting of whomever, so long as you had a signature. The spell was designed for bypassing tedious legalities, but was never introduced to the public; only a few lawyers knew of it and it had slowly died out over the years.

"Happy Christmas," he responded, giving her his gift.

Opening her gift first, Hermione smiled. It was a beautiful blue and bronze scarf; it looked knitted but felt so much softer. Alongside it was a silver charm bracelet with no charms on it. She looked up at him curiously.

He shrugged. "I figured it'd be an easy way out for future gifts. Just get you a charm."

She raised her eyebrows. "Well my birthday's in January, just a heads up."

He opened his own gift, smirking at the cosy woollen socks and looking at the Signature Spell cautiously.

"It's called the Signature Spell," she explained. "It mimics any writing so long as you have the Signature."

A wicked grin appeared on his face. "Well this will come in handy."

"And just so you know, I'll be knitting you socks every Christmas. I'm sure it's cold in the Slytherin chambers and warming charms only last so long."

Severus rolled his eyes. "Thank you."

Side note: I couldn't find Hermione's birthday, so I'm just going to say it's January 25th. Okay? Okay.


End file.
